Quick Tips: Which Casters Do I Need?

Higher-end chairs usually mean more options for the user. Many of these choices are pretty self-explanatory—“What color do I want?” “How tall should my seat go?”—but one area that tends to trip our clients up is the choice of hard surface or carpet casters for their new task chair. Here’s a quick way to remember which you will (typically) need:

Hard floors = Soft casters
Soft, carpeted floors = Hard casters

Standard hard casters are made out of either plastic or nylon, allowing the wheel to roll easily through high-pile residential carpet.

For both HAG and Humanscale seating, the hard surface casters (also known as “soft casters”) have a rubber ring around the outside of the caster which helps protect hard wood, while offering rolling resistance on other types of hard floors.

One notable exception to these rules is that we almost always suggest the hard surface casters with industrial low-pile carpet or if you are using a chair mat over your area rug. If you have questions about these recommendations, please don't hesitate to get in touch.