You may regularly clean the floors and surfaces, but how often do you remember to clean your office chair wheels?
Since the wheels constantly roll on the floor, they pick up all the tiny pieces of dirt and single or multiple hairs that are usually invisible to us. Dirty office chair wheels may stop the chair from moving normally.
That’s why it is important to clean the wheels once we’re done with the cushions and upper parts of the chair.
In this article, we’ll teach you several techniques to remove hair from office chair wheels.
Prepare the Wheels for Cleaning
The first step for cleaning the office chair wheels is to remove them from the base. Most of the chairs have removable wheels, although some may require effort to unscrew.
If the casters on your chair are not removable, it will be slightly more difficult to clean them, but it’s still doable. Simply flip the chair over and place it on the desk in front of you.
You can sit on another chair, or stand, roll up your sleeves, and get down on business.
List of Tools and Products to Have
- A firm pair of tweezers;
- Big needle or crochet hook;
- Duct tape;
- Razor or scalpel;
- Heat gun.
Depending on how successful you are, you may or may not need all of these tools. If the fingerwork or tweezer work turns out to solve the problem of hair in your office chair wheels, you don’t need to proceed with the duct tape, obviously.
How to Remove Hair From Office Chair Wheels
Here are some of the best techniques for removing hair from office chair wheels.
Use the Fingers
The oldest tool available to humankind, our fingers are the first and best way to remove hair from office chair wheels. If there’s a lot of trash inside, try to pull out everything you can.
If the hairs are extremely entangled, they might start to rip and break, which might make them more difficult to remove.
If you run into some sticky objects such as gum, that may complicate the removal of the hair from the wheel, try using a sharp, firm object such as the kitchen knife to unstick it.
Try the Tweezers or Pliers
Removing the hair from the office chair with tweezers is the most tedious but also the simplest way to finish the job. It’s also for those who are not fans of sticking their fingers into the hairy mess of dust and debris inside the wheel.
However, not any tweezers will do. It should be a strong, firm pair.
As you pull the hair out, you will probably rip it, and the process will be quite slow, but tweezers make it easy to reach different parts of the wheel.
If you don’t have tweezers, or don’t want to use them for a dirty job, a pair of pliers should also work. The point is to reach those hairs that got stuck in narrow places. Pliers might be a better option if the hairs are long and extremely entangled, as you can cut through the entangled hair easily.
Big Needle or Crochet Hook
If it’s good enough for making and fixing the dreadlocks, it’s good enough for picking the hair out of the wheel! A long needle that is thin enough to reach hidden, narrow surfaces, but has a tiny hook on top is the perfect tool for reaching the hair clumps inside your office chair wheels.
There are some different techniques for pulling the hair out. For example, you can first loosen them up with a small crochet needle and then use pliers or tweezers to remove them completely.
An alternative that almost any household has are dental picks. The wooden ones are not recommended, given that they break easily; however, metal and plastic ones should do the trick.
If you don’t have these large needles with hooks, or dental picks, you can use a fishing hook, as long as it’s small and sharp and can access the enclosed space. However, if you decide to use a fish hook, please be careful not to injure yourself since these are usually barbed and sharp.
Duct Tape
So many problems we can solve with a simple piece of duct tape. You simply need to cut off a piece of tape and use the gluey side to catch the debris, hair, and dirt that got stuck in the wheel. Try to hold the tape with your thumb and index finger and then move it along the area as if you are waxing body hair.
Razor or Scalpel
If the hair stuck in your office chair wheel is difficult to remove and acts stubborn, try using a sharp object to cut and remove it. You may damage the plastic a little, but the metal pieces should remain intact. This kind of damage won’t affect the wheels’ functionality.
You can use a razor, scalpel, or a very sharp, but not very big, kitchen knife. You can use tweezers or pliers to pull out the hairs first.
Heat or Fire
As you may have learned the hard way, hair is susceptible to heat and fire, and burns quite quickly and easily, leaving a horrifying smell behind.
And while in most cases you will want to keep hair as far away from fire as possible, in this case, it might be good to join them. Plastic doesn’t burn easily; it only melts under prolonged effects of fire and heat, so you needn’t worry about setting your chair on fire. Otherwise, fire is a pretty fast solution for the hair stuck in an office chair wheel, because it’s fast and far-reaching so that it will remove even the smallest, stubbornest pieces of hair.
Of course, do not use huge flames or lighters that burst into big flames. You need some kind of contained fire source, such as a heat gun.
Cleaning the Wheels After Hair Removal
Once you’re done removing debris and hair from the office chair wheels, it’s time to clean them up. Use plain soap and water. Fill a dish deep enough to fit all the wheels with water and dissolve some soap inside. Scrub them with a sponge or mop, rinse, and leave them to dry.
Additional Post-Cleaning Care
Since there are metal parts inside of office chair wheels, it’s important to leave the wheels to dry so they don’t catch any rust.
Once the wheels are dry, you can lubricate the inner parts of the wheels. This should promote smoother movement and a longer lifetime for the wheels. However, be careful not to lubricate those parts that come into contact with the floor because they can leave a stain. After lubrication, leave the wheels to dry once again.
Finally, reattach the wheels back onto the chair’s legs, and voila – the chair should be ready to glide smoothly again.
Conclusion
Dirty wheels are a normal part of the everyday use of office chairs. We are unaware of how much hair we lose until we look at those hidden places where they get caught.
Removing hair from office chair wheels is easy, although not the most pleasant job to do. You can use your fingers or basic tools like tweezers or duct tape.
Prevention is the best medication, so we strongly recommend you to regularly vacuum clean your floors and reduce the risk of hair and other debris getting stuck in your office chair wheels.
