How To Keep Office Chairs From Rolling? The 4 Most Effective Ways

You’re working at your desk…

…you’re so concentrated on the task at hand…

…Suddenly…

…your office chair rolls to one side or backward.

Have you ever experienced this? It’s very annoying and distracting, isn’t it?

Of course, office chair casters are a useful feature. You can move around without having to get up.

But, with this rolling away problem, it seems like a downside rather than a good thing.

Don’t worry!

There are ways you can avoid that from happening.

Here, we’re going to show you 4 ways on how to stop your office chair from rolling. We’re also going to mention the most common reasons why office chairs roll away.

So let’s get to it!

3 Common Reasons Why Office Chairs Roll Away

Whenever you want to fix a problem, it’s important to first know the cause. The same is true with office chairs that roll away.

As we said, we’re going to mention the 3 most common reasons why your office chair rolls.

The first reason is that the floor is a bit slanted. For obvious reasons, the casters will always roll in that direction.

Even if the slant is very slight, it’ll still roll that way.

Another reason is that the floor is too shiny. If that’s the case, the casters can easily slide away from the desk.

Finally, office chairs roll away because of their big wheels.

There are casters with bigger wheels so that it’s easier to move and navigate the office chair. But, this makes it easier to roll away, too.

If you have big-wheeled casters, a slight movement could get your office chair rolling. Even if it’s only a bit to the right or left, that’s still going to annoy and distract you.

To fix this problem, then, you need to relocate your desk or office. Make sure your floor isn’t shiny. And, stay super still while sitting on your office chair.

Is that it?

Of course not!

We have 4 solutions to help you stop your office chair from rolling without having to sacrifice any of that.

How Do I Stop My Office Chair From Rolling?

You’ll be happy to know that these 4 solutions are all very easy to follow.

Let’s take a close look at each one.

1. Replace Your Casters With Locking Casters

There are actually casters that have a locking mechanism to avoid this problem.

The lock keeps the wheels in place. It won’t budge even if you try to move it.

Because of that, your office chair won’t roll away, no matter if the floor is a bit slanted, shiny, or if the wheels are big.

This is a perfect solution that’ll fix every cause.

It’s a solution that requires you to spend a few bucks, though.

If you’re thinking, “Great! I should replace my casters with locking ones right away!”

Hold up!

Before that, check first if yours doesn’t already have locks. You don’t want to spend time and money replacing your casters only to find you didn’t need to.

To do that, look for a small tab that you can push up and down on the casters. You can find it either under the wheels or sticking out the front.

When looking for these locks, you should note that not all the casters are going to have it. Usually, there are locks in only 2 casters. And both locks are not located beside each other.

If it doesn’t have locks, then it’s time to consider replacing it.

Now, there are 2 types of locking casters – hands-free brakes and manual brakes.

With hands-free brakes, it’ll lock the wheels the moment you sit on the office chair. To unlock it, you need to stand up.

This is convenient. But then, you won’t be able to move your office chair around while sitting.

As you can guess, the manual brakes are not automatic. This is great because you can move around even while sitting.

However, you’ll need to lock and unlock it yourself by pushing a tab up or down. Some casters allow you to do this with your feet, while others need to be done by hand.

It’s up to you to decide which you prefer.

Click here for available office chair locking casters online.

The best part is that it’s super easy to replace your casters. Click here to learn how to remove all types of office chair casters.

2. Place An Area Rug Under Your Office Chair

Placing an area rug under your office chair should do the trick.

The type of area rug you use should depend on what’s causing the problem, though.

If the cause is a slanting floor, you’ll need an area rug with fibers or grooves.

The fibers or grooves will be able to lodge the wheels in place, despite the slant pulling it that way.

If the cause is a shiny floor, your area rug should have a rubbery underpad. If it doesn’t, the rug could be the one sliding, making it useless.

Finally, if it’s because of the wheels, get a thick area rug. The thicker the rug, the harder it’ll be for wheels to roll.

For best results, find an area rug that provides all 3. Fibers or grooves, rubber underpad, and thick.

Click here for available area rugs online.

3. Place Stoppers Underneath Your Casters

Placing stoppers underneath your casters is another great solution.

The stoppers surround the wheels, sort of like a wall. This wall then blocks the caster whenever it tries to roll away.

Click here for a wide variety of great caster stoppers to choose from.

You need to make sure that the size of the stopper is right for your casters. You don’t want the casters to be too big, it can’t fit or too small that it still moves around along the walls.

What we love about this solution is that you can get creative with it!

If you don’t want to spend, you can make your own caster stopper. You can make it from cardboard, foam, wood, or anything else.

Check out this video to see how you can make a DIY wooden caster stopper:

If you want to move across the room, you’ll have to remove the stopper. That’s not a problem unless you always move around.

4. Remove the Casters

Is there a solution that doesn’t cost anything? Or won’t take much of your time?

Yes, there is!

All you need to do is remove the casters. Click here to learn how to remove any type of office chair caster.

If you choose this solution, make sure to put something underneath it. If you don’t, the office chair’s legs can scratch and ruin the floor.

Any kind of rug will do. You can even fold a piece of cloth. Use anything that’ll keep the legs away from the floor.

The downside to this is that you won’t be able to move around with your office chair anymore.

If you don’t move around anyway, then this is the best and easiest solution for you.

Read more: How To Level Chair Legs?

Conclusion

You don’t have to suffer from rolling office chairs anymore.

With these 4 solutions, you can get rid of that problem once and for all.