How to clean office chair wheels

The wheels of your office chair can quickly become dirty and if you have a rolling office chair the build-up of dirt can quickly stop the wheels from working properly. So, it’s important that you know how to quickly and easily clean your chair’s wheels.

Here we will tell you everything that you need to know about the process from start to finish.

Note: Even though you don’t need to remove the wheels from the chair’s base. However, if you still want or need to remove them to clean better then look at my other article to remove & replace the caster wheels from the chair base – Click Here. ( You don’t have to read, all steps are Graphically Presented. )

Table of Contents

The main problem with office chair wheels is that when you are rolling over the floor your wheels are picking up every little piece of dirt, litter, and hair that they come across. Over time this can build up and stop your office chair wheels from working properly. So, how do you fix it?

Exactly how you are able to clean the wheels of your office chair will depend on how it was built.

For example,

does your chair come apart, or is the base made from one solid piece?
Are you able to take the wheels off one by one or are they all connected?

Knowing this will help you better understand how to clean your office chair wheels.

If you have a chair that was built in pieces then you may be able to remove the chair’s wheels one by one allowing you to give them a proper clean by rubbing a towel or piece of cloth over them as well as running them under warm water with a small amount of soap.

You will then need to ensure that all of the wheels are properly dried before reattaching them. If you reattach the office chair wheels whilst they are still wet then they are very likely to pick up a lot of dirt.

If your wheels do not come off then you will need to use several tools that you have on hand to properly clean the wheels. You will need to first flip the office chair upside down so that you have easy access to the wheels and can see them clearly. You may find it more comfortable to sit on another chair during this process.

Then, you will need to remove any larger pieces of debris using your hands, before using scissors to cut away at any hair that may have wrapped itself around the wheel. Depending on how bad the problem is you should then use tweezers and or a small butter knife to get any dirt out from under the wheel covers.

Be careful not to press too hard as this can gauge out plastic from the wheel.

You may find this article interesting. Click here to read: Office chair wheels universal or not.

Cleaning office chair wheels if the wheels detach

The best and easiest office chair wheels to clean are those that detach from the entire chair.

Most chairs will allow you to remove the wheels from the base of the chair without any additional tools. However, there are some office chairs that attach the wheels using screws. So, in order to remove these, you will need to locate the right-sized screwdriver.

In order to properly clean the wheels of these types of office chairs, do the following steps:

Remove the office chair’s wheels either by hand or by using a screwdriver
Remove the largest pieces of dirt or litter by hand
Use a pair of scissors to cut off any chair, string etc. that may have wrapped around the wheel
Use a pair of tweezers to pull off the smaller pieces of debris
Fill a bucket, or a sink, with warm soapy water and rub the wheels with your hands to ensure that all residue is removed
If there is still debris stuck under the wheel cover use a cotton bud and run it along the underside of the cover
Make sure that you properly and thoroughly dry the wheel, including the space under the cover. Leftover moisture can cause the wheels to squeak and easily pick up new debris
If you have lubricant to hand, spray a small amount over the wheels. This will allow them to roll better.
Reattach the wheels to your office chair either by popping them back into place or using the screwdriver to screw them back in

Cleaning office chair wheels if the wheels do not detach

Although most types of office chairs will now have detachable wheels there is the chance that your chair does not. In this case, do not worry, it is still possible to clean your office chair wheels.

Obviously, you will not be able to wash the office chair wheels in the sink to remove all residue but there are other ways around this problem. To clean office chair wheels that do not detach, follow these steps:

Turn the chair upside down so that the wheels are facing up. Make sure that the chair is balanced and is not going to fall over
Find yourself another chair to sit on during this process. This will ensure that you can do a good job and not hurt your back
Just like with the detachable wheels, remove any paper, large debris or litter that is stuck on the wheels.
Using scissors, cut and pull any hair that is wrapped around the wheels. You may need to use a small amount of force here as hair will often get caught until wheel covers
Use a pair of tweezers and remove the smaller pieces of debris
Take a cotton bud, or your finger if it is small enough, and run it under the wheel covers to remove any extra debris that you cannot see
Take a damp cloth and rub it all over the wheels to remove any residue
Take a dry cloth and dry the wheels thoroughly so that they do not make any noise and will not pick up any new debris

Conclusion

If your office chair wheels have stopped rolling then the chances are that they are just dirty, not broken. So, you will need to have a look.

Have a quick glance and determine whether debris and residue could be the root cause of your problem. Then check whether or not your chair wheels detach and follow the appropriate steps above.

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