Just as tires must have the proper tread for safe driving performance on dry pavement as well as slick or snow-covered roadways, chair movement depends on wheels that provide appropriate traction on hard and soft surfaces. To custom-fit your chairs for safety, you need Master Casters featuring our exclusive line of hard and soft caster wheels. Master lets you choose the casters that are the safest for specific types of surfaces, from vinyl, linoleum and hardwood floors or plastic chairs mats to industrial-grade or plus carpeting. Hard floor surfaces require soft wheel casters or the chair will be subject to dangerously rapid movement. Many new chairs are equipped with hard wheel casters for use on carpeted surfaces only.
Hard wheels skate and slide on hard floor surfaces.
For safe rolling on chairmats, and all had floor surfaces, soft wheel casters should be used. Soft wheels provide traction and prevent sliding. Spinning out of control while the user is seated or rolling away when the user rises, and then tries to resume a seat are other examples of what can happen if hard wheel casters are used on hard floor surfaces. In addition, injury due to falling is an obvious risk. A more insidious problem is the muscle strain that can result from constant efforts to keep the chair in place or trying to roll with an improper caster.