One of humanity’s most significant and enduring inventions, the wheel still makes its impact felt on the world daily. But have you ever noticed that a wheel alone is not very useful? To make a wheel do work, you need to have an axle assembly of some kind. And when that assembly gets dirty, worn or broken, you won’t be doing much rolling until you correct the situation.
Casters, those wheel assemblies attached to the bottom of heavy things to make them easier to move, were probably the first use of the wheel. You can now see them on all sorts of heavy items – appliances, furniture, pianos – and they make it possible for most people to own anything weighing more than 100lbs. Keeping those miraculous rollers in good repair, clean and lubricated, is the key to enjoying their fantastic contribution to society.
Cleaning Casters With Air
Try air first when getting grime, dust, and other obstructions out of your caster wheel assemblies. If you have access to a powerful vacuum cleaner, use a small-head attachment to suck the obstacles out of the wheel housing. You can also purchase compressed air in a can or use an electric air compressor to blow the dirt out of the caster.
Using Tools To Get Hard-To-Reach Dirt
Sometimes the gunk is just too thick to remove with air pressure. In this case, you will need to use a pointy tool to poke into tight crevices and clear out all of the foreign matter. Once you find the right tool, be careful not to damage the caster wheel or assembly. If you want to see all the different kinds of caster wheels available, you could spend some time on a site like www.accesscasters.com and then do some online research about cleaning them with tools without causing any damage to them.
Maintaining Casters To Keep Them Rolling
To get the most out of your casters, you will need to consider lubricating them. Casters come with a swivel wheel or a rigid caster wheel. If applicable, select a non-corrosive grease to oil both the axles and the swivel assembly.
Once you remove the dirt, carpet fibers, and hair, the lubrication step will make your casters feel like they are rolling on air. You will probably wonder why you waited so long, suffering from those jammed wheels that frustrated you every time you started to move something when you could have just taken care of the problem in the first place and avoided all the hassle.