Here’s a little homeowner problem that I don’t hear addressed very often. How to protect your floors from chair legs. We all have floors, and we all have chairs, but how do we fend off floor scratches? Let me offer some tried and true solutions.
I’ve been a homeowner for more than 20 years now, but it wasn’t until our third home that I suddenly realized that my chairs might harm my wood floors! Before this, I’d had carpet in my dining room so the problem didn’t exist. When I asked around, no one really had a long-term workable solution for me. So here are the ways I’ve attempted to remedy this situation, in chronological order, so my current, most successful ideas are of course at the bottom of the list. Some of the earliest methods may be just the thing for you, but if you still struggle with these, my recent creative solutions may provide the better protection that you need!
Tried and True Solutions
- Easiest solution is a large area rug! But this only works if your rug is large enough that your chairs completely rest on it at all times.
- Adhesive felt floor protectors. These are a great quick fix. My issue with these is that they quickly wear down and have to be replaced. And how will I know when it’s time to replace them? When I hear and feel them scratching along my floor! By then, I may already have a problem! Here are some slide on felt floor protectors that also look like they’d do the trick nicely.
- Plastic nail-on caps. These are not even recommended for hardwood, but they should work on tile or linoleum. In my desperation, I did use these for my wood floors, but the problem of course is that soft wood floors will still be damaged by these.
- Slide-on rubber tips. I think these are usually sold as replacements for the rubber feet you find on folding chairs, and they are available in white or black and in various sizes. This is what I currently use on my dining room chairs. I bought black to match the legs and base of my table. Although at first I had occasional rubber scruffs, I no longer experience these at all. I haven’t had to replace them in years!
- Chair socks. My bar stools had legs that were too wide for the rubber covers. I was using nail-on rubber feet, but the slant in the chair leg kept these from being effective. So for a while I had rubber feet covered in black electrical tape! But one of my summer projects one year was to make crochet black chair socks. Such a quick and easy solution! I was inspired by these colorful ones from Knitting With Chopsticks! Hers are super great if you have square stool legs, but I had round so I adapted the pattern, and it’s available below. Step 1 is to crochet a magic circle. You can find a link on how to make that here.
