Soft versus Hard surface castors & when to Use Each

Caster wheels comes in different type of material and thus it is very important to choose the softness of the outer material which comes in contact with the surface.  If an incorrect material Is used it may result in heavily damaging the floor and thus it resulting in loss of money.

For example if a nylon caster is used on expensive tiles it will surely result in damaging the expensive flooring. In the same way if polyurethane casters are used over sand the person pushing the trolley will have to apply a lot of effort.

This  Makes it very clear that choosing the caster wheel material is of prime importance according to its application. Comfort Casters  Has classified different types of material and their usage.

1. PU: This material is used in places like hotels ,institutions and the places where a premium quality of Castor is required without making any kind of noise.
2. TPR: This material is most suitable for hospital and medical applications where non marking and completely noiseless service is required.
3. Nylon: This material is generally very hard and is most suitable for all industrial applications.
4. Rubber: Rubber as we know is a soft material and is suitable to run on roads and sand
5. Cast PU: This material is mostly used in heavy duty industry where mixed type of used is prevalent.
6. Cast Iron: Cast iron is the hardest material and is generally used in all high temperature applications.

The above classification clearly defines the type of material available and the surfaces on which they can run on. If any customer has a special requirement like chemical environment or a place where oil spilling is prevalent then they can contact comfort casters for customized production.

Our team will understand your needs and suggest you the most suitable castor wheel so that you don’t have to worry about this aspect of your business.

If you would like to know more about them or would like to examine some castor wheel samples, please write to us at sales@comfortcastors.com or browse our product page to chose the right castor wheel for your need.

Castor Wheels are meant to reduce human effort and increase shop floor efficiency. However, if the right castor wheel is not used or castors are not used properly it may result in heavily damaging your floor, which can result in accidents, reduction in work efficiency and loss of money.

Thus, it is very important to keep certain things in mind when buying and then installing the castor wheel so that your floor remains safe from damage because it is easy to replace a damaged castor wheel with little expense but it may prove to be very costly to repair the floor especially in cases when the epoxy flooring is done or expensive tiles are used. Please read on so that floor damage from castor wheels never happens again:

Use the right type of castor

Using the right type of castor wheel is the first step to avoid floor damage. Do you own research before buying the castor and don’t just depend on what the salesperson suggests you at the offline store. If you want easy movement, chose a PU castor with bigger diameter. Don’t use nylon castors for expensive flooring or epoxy flooring, instead buy only PU or TPR castors.

• Don’t overload castor wheelOverloading of castors is another reason why floor damage happens. Assess your load requirements correctly before buying the castor and buy a castor at least with 25% more load capacity than your maximum requirement. It will not only offer your easy rollability but also save you from frustration of floor damage. Overloading is the number one reason why both the castor wheel and floors are broken. That is why it is recommended to use a slightly heavier capacity castor.
• Use Ergonomic castor if you have metal chips on the floorMany Industrial units have expensive epoxy flooring on their shopfloor but at the same time do machining work which results in lots of metal chips scattering on the floor. The castor wheels then pick these metal chips and when these wheels run on the epoxy floor, it results in heavily damaging the floor. The only solution is getting the expensive flooring done again. In these kind of cases, we suggest using the ergonomic cast iron PU castors offered by Comfort Castors which comes with a high grade PU which not only dispels the metal chips but also reduces push/pull effort by 30%. These ergonomic castor wheels are best suited for the automotive industry.
• Use Soft tread castors for hotel or medical industryBoth medical and hotel industry need a non marking and noiseless castor wheel in all their equipment. These institutions have really expensive flooring laid out in their premises and also have to take care of the comfort of their guests and patients. Thus, soft tread TPR castors are the best option for these institutions. These are non-marking, noiseless and runs smoothly.
• Don’t use metal castors unless absolutely necessaryMany industrial units use cast iron or metal castors as they assume that these metal castors can take more load and will offer a longer life. This is a myth, metal castors in turn damage their floors resulting in wastage of resources & money. Metal castors should only be used in high temperature applications where the temperature is more than 400° Celsius.

Thus, you should get enough knowledge about precautions to take to prevent castor wheels from damaging your floors. If you would like to know more about them or would like to examine some castor wheel samples, please write to us at sales@comfortcastors.com or browse our product page to chose the right castor wheel for your need.