Office Chair Wheels

D Vautier
2/2024

Office chair wheels have an amazing ability to clean floors.  Anything whatsoever gets collected by those wonderful little wheels and all of it gets wrapped tightly around the axle.  After a year or so the wheels stop working because they get so crammed full of dust, cat, dog and human hairs and all the other debris and dross that winds up on the floor.  Replacement is simple and quick, about 10 bucks for a new set of wheels on the web--that is, if your favorite chair has standard wheels.  If you have non-standard wheels you will be very hard pressed to find any replacements anywhere.

We have several office chairs plus some other assorted stools, all with clogged wheels and all non-standard.  So I decided to restore them.  Here's how:

Basic tools for this job are a couple of big screwdrivers and a hammer.  I inserted the two screwdrivers in the wheel and pried until it popped off.  They won’t break.  They’ll just smack you in the face.  After this I cleaned the axle of all that grime and then pried off the other wheel.  Sometimes the other wheel comes off with the axle with it which is ok.  After cleaning the other wheel and getting it to turn, I hammered the unit back together.  Sometime they have to be evened up a little.  Often there is a knurl in the middle of the axle so it won’t spin.  A little oil helps but not much; oil attracts debris.  Keep those wheels turning.