Does anyone have favored glides or pads to keep chair legs from damaging floors? The ordinary felt adhesive pads seem to always come off. Should I glue them on (if so with what type of glue?) or use the tap-in glides such as those sold by Rockler? Will these damage the legs? Thanks.
Shoe sole leather.
Scraps available from cobbler or shoe repair.
Cut to shape with sharp knife or stout shears, glue in place with hide glue. I like to mount them slightly oversized and trim in place by paring with a scalpel or X-Acto to a slight bevel.
Lightly sand bottoms occasionally to remove embedded grit (which is what scratches floors).
Replace when or if necessary. Mine have all lasted more than a dozen years.
I sand the white plastic
glides on my dcm set occasionally, too. It seems like the easiest way to rid them of the bits of grit that invariably get stuck in there.
Those "felt" pads at the hardware store are useless on furniture that gets moved frequently, like chairs. They crush down to a hard dense wad and attract nasty crud and hair like magnets IF the acrylic adhesive even holds them in place for more than a week.
Tap-in or screw-in glides require making a hole if one doesn't exist, so that's out for me.
Yes, I'm a DIY type, and perhaps a tad anal. My first application of leather glides was the result of floor finish damage caused by our piano bench when my kids started in-home lessons. I happened to have materials on hand and it worked so well, I added them to a number of other pieces and they've all held up beyond expectation.
It's really pretty easy. Appropriate leather, liquid hide glue, blue tape, sharp knife, and a basic hand skills are all you need.
Hide glue is water-soluble and some leather will absorb water, so spills and/or sloppy floor mopping can cause it to fail. Fix is a simple re-glue.
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