Hard rubber casters are a popular choice for carpeted floors. They roll smoothly and easily on carpeted floors so that the objects to which they are mounted don’t bounce around. Whether you’re planning to use them on waste bins, factory carts, toolboxes, etc., you can’t go wrong with hard rubber casters.
Overview of Hard Rubber Casters
Hard rubber casters are casters that feature a wheel made of hard rubber. All casters have a wheel. Casters are defined as undriven wheels with a mounting frame. Some casters feature different types of wheels than others.
There are hard rubber wheels. Hard rubber wheels look like most other caster wheels, but they are made exclusively of hard rubber. Hard rubber wheels have a durometer rating of 70 to 75.
Benefits of Hard Rubber Casters
Hard rubber casters are easy to roll. They feature hard wheels that require minimal force to roll. Even when mounted on the bottom of heavy objects, you’ll won’t have to use much force to roll them.
Don’t let their hard texture fool you into thinking hard rubber casters are susceptible to chipping. There are chip-resistant soft rubber casters that are designed to protect against this otherwise common form of damage.
How They Differ From Soft Rubber Casters
While they are both made of rubber, hard rubber casters and soft rubber casters aren’t the same. The difference lies in their hardness — specifically the hardness of their tread. The tread is the pattern on the surface of a caster wheel. Hard rubber wheels have a harder tread than soft rubber wheels.
How do you know whether a caster has a hard rubber or soft rubber wheel exactly? The easiest way to tell is to perform the fingernail test. Press your fingernail against the tread. If the wheel is made of hard rubber, you won’t be able to push your fingernail into the tread. If the wheel is made of soft rubber, your fingernail should push into the tread.
Most soft rubber wheels are actually made of both soft rubber and hard rubber. They feature a hard rubber core that’s surrounded by a layer of soft rubber. This is why you can press your fingernail into the tread of a soft rubber wheel.
Soft rubber wheels are better suited for hard flooring materials. For carpeted floors, you should typically choose casters with a hard rubber wheel. But for hardwood, laminate or other types of hard floors, you should consider choosing casters with a soft rubber wheel.
