Castors are one of the most overlooked components on an office chair, right up until they start squeaking, sticking, or rolling unevenly. A few practical things are worth knowing — both when specifying new chairs and when maintaining an existing fleet.

Matching castors to your floor

The single most common castor mistake is a mismatch between wheel type and floor surface:

  • Hard-floor castors (typically soft rubber or polyurethane) are designed for timber, tile, laminate and vinyl. They grip well without marking the surface.
  • Carpet castors (typically harder plastic or nylon) are designed to roll smoothly over carpet pile without digging in or wearing prematurely.

Using the wrong castor for the floor causes two problems: reduced mobility (a hard-floor castor on carpet can feel like it's dragging), and accelerated wear on both the castor and the floor surface. If a fitout includes a mix of carpet and hard flooring, it's worth specifying castors per area rather than assuming one type suits the whole office.

Load rating matters more than it seems

Castors are rated for a maximum load, and that rating needs to account for the combined weight of the chair itself plus the person using it — not just body weight in isolation. A castor under-rated for its actual load wears faster and is more prone to failure, particularly under the repeated daily use of a commercial environment. This is part of why AFRDI durability testing evaluates castors separately from the rest of the chair — they're tested under genuine repeated load, not just a single weight check.

Common castor problems and what they usually mean

  • Squeaking — usually just dust or debris in the wheel housing; a clean often resolves it without replacement
  • Rolling unevenly or catching — often hair, carpet fibres or debris wrapped around the axle
  • Feels loose or wobbly — the stem may be worn or the socket it sits in may have loosened; worth checking before it worsens
  • Rolls too freely on an incline — some environments benefit from locking castors, which is a spec decision worth raising if the workspace has any sloped flooring or ramp access

Cleaning and maintenance

A quick clean — removing wrapped hair and debris from the wheel and axle — restores smooth rolling in most cases without needing replacement. For chairs on carpet in particular, this is worth doing periodically as part of general chair maintenance, since carpet fibres accumulate faster than most people expect.

When to replace rather than clean

If a castor is cracked, has a flat spot from wear, or the stem is visibly damaged, cleaning won't fix it — but replacement is usually straightforward and inexpensive, provided the chair uses a standard-fit castor rather than a proprietary one. This is worth checking with your supplier before it becomes an issue, particularly for a larger chair fleet.

Corporate Chair Systems supplies commercial seating with castor options matched to different floor types. Get in touch if you need advice on castor selection for a mixed-flooring fitout, or spare parts for an existing fleet.