What Castors Should I Choose?
The type of castors you should choose will primarily depend on your floor type:
- CARPET CASTORS should be used on floors with carpet flooring. These castors have a hard plastic wheel and will allow for easier movement on soft floor surfaces.
- HARD FLOOR CASTORS should be used on hard floor surfaces such as tiles, wood floor and concrete. They can also be used on some hard carpet tiles to provide additional friction if you are concerned about the wheels moving too easily. Hard floor castors have a soft wheel to provide extra friction, and to protect the floor surface.
Where applicable, other considerations may affect your choice:
- BRAKE LOADED or 'Locking by Weight' castors will lock the chair into place as soon as weight is applied. These are particularly useful if sitting at a high workstation, or using the a chair in a perching position, so that the chair does not suddenly move from underneath you (However, it may be that 'Glides' woudl be more appropriate in these circumstances. Please bear in mind that once the chair is locked in place, it will be more difficult to adjust you position and posture at the desk.
- BRAKE UNLOADED or 'Locking when Unloaded' castors can be specified when a little bit of extra stability is required when getting on and off the chair, but movement is necessary once you are sat on the chair. However, if stability is paramount, and a 100% stable chair is required, a more advanced locking mechanism may be required (Such as that found on the VELA range of mobility chairs, or the add-on Movement Lock for the Adapt 500 & 600 range of seating)
- GLIDES are most often chosen where the chair is used at a high workstation, and stability is required when seated. Reception areas, checkout, and industrial settings may benefit from the application of GLIDES.
