How to dismantle and clean office chair caster wheels

A quick tutorial on how to dismantle office chair casters / wheels to remove the hair and gunk that is slowing them down - no special tools required.

[@D-One]

My new chair slides too much, I guess I have to open the wheels and put some hair there, the hardest part will be convincing my wife to donate some hair.

[@gwendolynmartin8351]

🤣🤣🤣

[@Dienaawad]

🤣

[@very.mariaa]

omg 🤣

[@Kaushal9901]

Well done my son 💓

[@nachababilonia7621]

lol same goes to my sis as well, she does not care of taking care of her hair at anything knowing that his responseble for that but either way i guess she will never learn 🙄

[@valkyriesardo278]

I love that you started out by explaining the design of the wheel parts before describing disassembly process.

[@ThatOneGib]

When everyone else tells me to just replace the damn things, you gave me the courage to actually try and split them apart And I did! And I cleaned them, and they work substantially better now, thank you.

[@harrietday7697]

Thanks - this gave me the courage to put a bit more force into getting the wheel off - and it worked!

[@marlenejollymore8296]

scary for sure :-)

[@MasakyoRenSai]

Exactly what I wanted to see 😸👍🏼

[@waulau8]

More force on which part, left or right of the wheels ? Afraid might broke it.

[@albertmarble]

This was sooo helpful. With the aid of your video, the wheels on my office chair got cleaned in 30 minutes, and the chair is gliding along nicely once again. Thank you!!

[@calumsanderson6741]

"That's a lot of gunk" mate I have a golden retriever you haven't seen "a lot of gunk" yet. Thanks for the video. Wasn't aware one could separate the wheel components (these were replacement wheels because the original wheels - surprise - got gunk in them!)

[@OHADI22]

I knew I needed to pry apart the two wheels in order to get them to seperate, but I didn't have the guts to go full strength at them untill I watched your video. And voila! they came right off. Thanks!

[@vaughnatienza9066]

ooo

[@izmizcha955]

same

[@theewildrose]

I chickened out

[@estamnar6092]

Same as other comments, wanted to pop the casters apart to get the hair off instead of growing old trying to pick it out, but was worried about how much force I was having to use. Your vid gave me the confidence to really put some stank on it and sure enough, pop they did. No damage either. Hair removed, and lubricated with some graphite paste, and reassembled. I also used a blade to scrape the wheel surfaces clean, to get rid of the old ball-mouse "roller rumble". Worked great, helped me keep this old chair in service a bit longer.

[@estamnar6092]

One note, I feel like some kind of spreader tool would work a lot better, like the sort used for automotive brake calipers. Cant find any thatd fit tho

[@debbieschwiep5922]

Very helpful! I would never have put that much pressure on separating the wheels if I hadn't seen the video. Thank you!

[@TuMadre8000]

i never understood why manufacturers don't make wheels easy to clean. this is a problem literally everyone will have at some point

[@WasabiDeath]

There are hair-proof wheels that you can purchase. Hairproofsystem is one of them. I'm not sure how effective they are tbh. I'll be getting one in the future.

[@pily.flores]

I cant thank you enough! This was amazing!!! Super hard to disassemble the wheels but oh so fantastic. I was about to throw away my chair and now is fixed. Thanks!!! Now just need a new manicure, and a band-aid for a hurt finger 😜

[@AdamBechtol]

Some advice to those trying to separate the wheels, use the biggest baddest screwdrivers you got. I used some about the size of my fingers, and really they acted more like wedges to more easily spread them apart, you do have to twist and use force, but thick, wedge-like screwdrivers help a bunch. *edit* Also, I had more success putting the screwdrivers on the same side rather than opposed, and then sorta with a rocking see-saw motion popping them out. I'd try the other method first as this may be more of a risk in breaking the plastic. But it worked for me. Thanks for the video, couldn't find any other source that explained how to spread the wheels apart. Thanks

[@beachbum4691]

Thanks for your comment ;) I was toying with the idea of using a couple of cold chisels because of their greater width primarily to lessen the localising of the load and hopefully reduce the risk of breakage, my office chair was $500 and has non-standard diameter shafts where it enters the chair proper. :(

[@aurora_boketto7746]

Wrench. Use a crow bar

[@zekevictor]

A gear removal tool for motorcycle transmissions will take care to pull this wheel off easily

[@beachbum4691]

Thanks for your comment, the wheels on mine have never run smoothly since I bought it new :( "perhaps my butt weighs more than some others giving better traction?", so I'm kinda getting away with it. Though you mention "wheel brakes"? I now learn the wheels are designed to have a safety brake feature, when someone is sitting in the chair they run smoothly enough, but when no one is sitting in the chair; they become safety wheel-brakes? but it would be nice if it ran freely. Every success with "fixing" your own, they are really quite nice chairs. /// again your comment, with regard wheel brakes; I just Googled > "ikea office chair wheels not rolling". And it seems these wheels do have some sort of safety auto brake?, perhaps opening up the market for use on ships/cruise liners?. perhaps see also these two URLs ?> kzbin.info/www/bejne/p4HSqZ2Bodhrna8 ///and/// www.google.com/search?client=firefox-b-d&q=ikea+office+chair+wheels+not+rolling#fpstate=ive&vld=cid:4577205b,vid:9YEBUaV65uk /// Best wishes. John, Perth, Western Australia

[@vilasbhave5256]

I was just not able to remove the wheels. Your video gave me CORRECT way to remove the wheel and clean the castor. It does shoot like a bullet while removing.. Great.

[@braveKonoko]

Hey man thanks for the video. After watching this video, I cleaned my chairs caster wheels in half an hour!

[@Scrungyyy]

This video saved me. I recently bought a used chair from someone off Facebook and was quite horrified to see the wheels all clogged up with that person's hair and dirt! I spent a little bit of time trying to tweeze the hair out before realizing there must be a better option. This video saved me so much time and grossness (blech...), thank you so much!!

[@lotsofhorses4me]

Poof yiii! That definitely takes some force BUT I got it. 30 mins later and I'm doing the Indie 500 around my room. AWESOME and thank you!

[@BalrajSingh-iy1hg]

Thanks for the video - it not only saved me lot of time, but also facilitated effective cleaning. I was concerned about damaging the wheels of my Godrej swivel chair, but they proved to be quite sturdy to bear the brunt of disassembly.

[@claudiad.6645]

Thank you for this tutorial! This will help me clean my cheapest wheels. Couldn't get myself to throw them to the garbage. :-)

[@guringai]

From the side of the road, I just picked up a Herman Miller 'Ergon' chair, & the only thing that's wrong with it is that the hair has stopped the wheels rolling! Brilliant video explanation. Thank you!

[@caroljeansmith5304]

Great tutorial! Yes it IS therapeutic! Respect you much for encouraging to remove and clean (fix not replace) as is our way, always. So, to all you out there, you can do this. Its the fourth "R"! (Reuse, Reduce, Recycle AND Restore). Thanks Otway.

[@bigalxyz]

Just found this after buying an old office chair which has the exact same design of caster, completely matted up with someone's hair. Now spinning very freely. Very useful video. Thank you.

[@elizabethtaylor5044]

THANK YOU SO MUCH!!! This video helped me tremendously! I needed an office chair very badly but didn’t want to pay a lot of money for one because I’ve just moved into a new home and have lots of bills to pay. I found a free one outside by the dumpster of a shop and brought it home and the wheels wouldn’t roll. It must’ve been a craft or sewing shop because it was LOADED with thread! This video save me lots and lots of time and energy. Thank you again and have a blessed day!

[@lizbaker4456]

THANK YOU. My castors wouldn't permit reaching chair leg, but crossing the tips of 2 flat bladed screwdrivers meant I could lever against that.

[@gurditrehal3348]

Before this video I had been struggling for years with stuck wheels that keep dragging along the floor. Then I got frustrated and finally decided to search for a solution and find this video. Now my chair moves along the floor smoothly like brand new. Cheers, mate!

[@atotalmoron]

Thanks for this! My expensive Herman Miller chair's casters have been creeeeeeaking annoyingly, and thanks to your video tutorial, I was able to apply the right amount of force to separate the wheels. It's one of those things where you just don't know how much elbow grease to apply for fear of breaking a component. Thanks again.

[@qneal78710]

Thanks for saving me time and money. I went to homedepot to buy new ones but after watching your video, I took them back and fixed my old ones

[@tinatorrens8255]

Thank you. I’m so glad I saw this. I was having trouble separating the wheels. I used your technique with the screwdrivers and it worked perfectly.

[@wileymaccormack4399]

Perfect How-To Video! Straightforward, quick, right amount of instruction! Thank you!

[@ThatSillyTurtle]

You sir, are a legend! This video helped so much! Thank you! Got all the hair and grossness out that was building for years. The chair moves again!!

[@deea7063]

Mission accomplished thanks to your awesome video! Would've spent hours with needle-nose pliers, box knife, etc., OR given up and ordered a new set!! Rollers are as good as new in about 15 minutes!!!😏

[@johan9639]

Apparently The amount off force required had more people in doubt here. Your video gave me the courage to put some extra force behind it. Thanks for your explanation!

[@quandaledingle8030]

Thank you, the wheels weren't turning, so I tried this. Thank you so much

[@ZarkasTheSkreleton]

Thanks for the vid m8, made my 4:30 am 'adventure' a lot easier

[@cmdrgogen3203]

Wasn't sure how to do this without breaking something, so I googled it, this came up first... now our wheels are happily spinning again. Thanks!

[@lardwell]

Thank you, Great help, I used after I saw what you were doing some thin open in wrenches, 3/4 till 7/8 will work, much faster than screwdrivers thanks again

[@indigogiraffe]

I needed to reassemble casters and this really helped to see the anatomy of the wheel and the force needed to get it back together, thank you!

[@versatilefaerie]

Thank you so much for this video! It helped us since we got a nice computer chair from my husband's mother in law, but the wheels had tons of hair in it. Now it rolls like a dream.

[@HelloMrRabbit]

I have tried different tutorials on yt but this tutorial worked for me Thank you!

[@kostasmiki]

Thank u man. You saved my day. Greetings from Greece

[@MujerdeFierro]

Thanks! I got two free computer chairs, I cleaned them up and now I have to clean the wheels. They roll good and I washed with mild soap and water and lysol, however I just wanna be safe and clean as much as a I can. Thank you for the tip!

[@rauruuu]

Dude thank you cuz we have an office chair and we thought that your method wouldn't work because we thought that it might break but it didn't! Ty dude new subscriber here! 😃

[@castlescrumble8712]

This was so awesome and helpful. I gave it some extra strength and the wheels popped off as you displayed. My chair is so awesome again

[@ramonakhillawan7314]

Great video. I was looking for how to clean the wheels of my chair and pulling and trying to cut the hair and threads off was a senseless task. Did a search on KZbin and found this. It works, It's a bit of an effort to get the wheels apart The last one was shear effort to press together until you get that wonderful Click!

[@lanebt4670]

Thank you very much for this video. This helped me so much. My husband's bedside table have casters and they needed cleaning. I cut the gunk with a pocket knife and used pliers, but still couldn't get it all out. I didn't know how to pop the casters apart. I watched your video and easily popped the casters apart. I cleaned them and put them back together. The table now rolls like it's brand new.

[@wowguywhy]

thank you! my wife works at a vet and the docs are consistently buying new chairs. now I can scoop the dumped ones, clean them up and they're good as new

[@Eatbeans6739]

Thanks for this video. This is really going to help me clean the wheels on the three chairs we have. Not having smoothly gliding wheels are really hard on your pelvis. I’m saying this from experience, believe me. I ended up at the chiropractor to have my back adjusted.

[@richadeyemi]

This was so helpful. I got two swivel chairs from FB Marketplace and I was having problem getting the caster wheels to move. Your tips helped me resolved the problem. Now the chairs are working fine. Thank you.

[@MrBikeagraman]

Thank you for your video. I was able to finally get all the hair out of the wheels by following your steps.

[@AERNIGH]

The hair rolled into my wheels so much that I thought it was some kind of a rubber padding for the wheel to fit in. Thanks to your video, I was able to clean it up, and fix it right back in with a pop.

[@dylenaw]

Thank you for the support man... My chair is now movable as ever

[@romeojuliet5784]

I like that you're straight to the point! Great instruction!

[@RW1A]

I got my chair on Christmas last year and since i have long hair my chair never wanted to roll i finally decided to clean it and this video was a great help, thank you

[@vinithkaradi1104]

Pried those wheels on my chair apart with a pair of spanners. Watched your video and figured I was holding them the wrong way. Thanks!

[@atl2680]

Just tried this today. Fixed 2 computer chairs. Another 2 on the way. Thank you very much for sharing. 🤗😊

[@striveupward]

Thank you. I was reluctant to try high pressure, for fear of breaking parts. Your explanation was great, through, and extremely helpful. Blessings.

[@DMH57IND]

hello I just wanted to say thank you for your very helpful video! shocking how much hair string and gunk those wheels can hold!!!

[@LoneStarSteven]

Excellent tutorial. I was on my way half way through...

[@limpets]

i know this video is super old and you've been told 274 times already but still wanna thank you for helping:)

[@nowheregirl921]

I am so happy. My chair works so smoothly now. I can't stop moving it lol! Thank you so much!

[@JakeRosenzweig]

Therapeutic is right, bro. Thanks for the advice. I’m actually *eager* to help my brother clean out his casters now.

[@JeepRubicon548]

Thank you for this video. I watched the whole video and I was having the same problem, so this video help . I was able to repair all of them without having to purchase new ones.

[@RyanReta97]

The way I races to steal my dad's tools lmao But for real this helped a lot, thread and hair always end up on my wheels and I knew there had to be something I could do to pry them off, but I never thought to lever them off.

[@rafaelramos2731]

Thank you friend. I needed this video to repair my casters. Very good insight to this fix.

[@bleebleblahble8833]

I found needle nose locking pliers (vise grips) on one side clamped on the plastic where the wheel mounts over the axle to work best. From there just push the vise grip handle out and don’t worry about breaking it and off it comes

[@NijoRaju]

thanks a bunch dude. just cleaned those nasty wheels following your tutorial.

[@hwyvill]

Thanks! this 77 year old grandma just fixed her office chair with your help!

[@aminoamina3297]

I just watched this video and it worked thank you so much my wheels needed a clean

[@alexandrusimioniuc9152]

Very good video!!! Thanks to this video I could clean my chair wheels after 10 years of use!! Now it rolls very well. One fact: it is enough to do the exact moves explained in the video, but expect that somethimes it may be really very hard, i. e. you need very much force to press on the screwdrivers.

[@shattered0717]

It took me many tries to get the first one apart I was afraid to break it but I get how to do it now I'm taking apart my mom's sewing room chair wheels you wouldn't believe how much thread is clogged up in them thank you very much for this video!

[@nandhusweety243]

Thankkkssss a lot sir..... For long time I have no idea about how to clean my chair wheels u video make me clear I have cleaned all the wheels now it's rolling super without any problem thank u so much... I'm happy now

[@MrRom079]

It was easy to do and now my chair feels new thanks brah

[@terrylindgren9878]

Thanks for this - gave me the confidence to pop those wheels apart to get them really cleaned out!

[@kuzey1923TC]

Thanks for the video mate! I learned how to take the wheels apart.

[@rahulmanerikar6598]

Excellent video! Worked very well for me. Thanks!

[@saintm6776]

Thank you very much, this was most helpful, Regards, Shane.

[@Her_Imperious_Condescension]

It's adorable how some people sign their comments like a letter or email.

[@joshwills6837]

I found that a pair of needle nose pliers worked better as i could equally force the wheel in two places. appreciate the video.

[@nbbistudent7]

Worked like a charm! Thanks for making and posting this video!!!

[@killersmurfett]

Thank you for this, I always knew there was hair and stuff in the wheels, I feel so good now that its all clean

[@owenmcintyre9950]

Brilliant! Like Harriet below, I was afraid to put too much force on the wheels. Yes it worked, as did the LITTLE bit of WD40 to loosen off the fixed wheel. My chair is now moving freely. Thank you.

[@DanielSan1776]

Thanks man A perfect guide for the chair I use

[@Chopingporky]

Thanks. This saved me a lot of cutting and plucking 😅

[@AMiniki]

Thank you! I used two wrenches instead, it was easier to open the wheels with them and a lot less scary than using the screwdrivers, which I tried first but it just wouldn’t work. I did put all my weight in it but it worked very very well with the wrenches. Now my chair feels like new.

[@FirestormX9]

Thank you so much for this tutorial! Helped a lot

[@terryLHTSurigao]

Thank you for the info. God bless your vlogs!

[@starjunksniper]

thank you so much!! finally, my chair slides as if it's new again!

[@gunaseelandavid9811]

Thank you so much.... Got my chair wheel fixed.

[@g1enina]

Love this. Only $15 a set but as you say, therapeutic and save the planet.

[@cpul01]

i love your cutter man ! Thanks a lot.

[@purplekaymoni4life]

I could never thank you enough!!! AMAZING AND MOST HELPFUL VIDEO INDEED!!! :)

[@wiggsan]

Thank you!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! You saved me a lot of money and time!

[@priyanthajayathilake4159]

Thanks man you saved a lot of time for us

[@elschedino]

Exactly what I needed! Thank you!!

[@domainrajud6341]

awsome, I have cleared my chair, it's rolling perfect. Thanks, Man. apricated

[@markcurtis5265]

Top work my man! i used a couple pairs of plies to separate them, long nosed ones were perfect! thanks for the vid :)

[@Gotmehotnot]

Thanks for sharing this video it helped me 😀 Save the planet just clean them ..... great attitude! 👍🏻

[@GordonOverkill]

Thanks alot for uploading! My chair looks like new! :D

[@emptytrashben2375]

Mine works like new

[@juanmontes97]

Thanks man you saved me so much time with that

[@Marb750]

I just got a free chair that's almost perfect except for a bent hub axle and stuck wheels. was able to fix the axle, but the clogged wheels were stumping me until now. Thanks!

[@phillipfrankreid]

Thank you--just what I needed.

[@pacogimanes]

Worked like a charm!