If you are looking for the best office chair mat you came to the right place. Whether you are buying one for your home or business office, we have you covered. This article is packed with hours of research and reviews of the best office chair mat. An office chair mat is essential in protecting your carpet or hard surface floor (including hardwood, laminate, linoleum, vinyl, or tile) from the damaging effects your chair creates by rolling across it each day. An office chair mat is worth the small investment that will save you big bucks down the road from floor damage and repair!
The following topics will be covered in this office chair mat buyers guide:
Buying an office chair mat will help protect your floor. Investing in a relatively inexpensive office chair mat is much cheaper than the future cost of making repairs or replacing your floor. Below are a few of the top reasons to purchase an office chair mat.
The chart below is a side by side comparison of the most popular brands and models of office chair mats.
Floortex Cleartex Ultimat | |||||
---|---|---|---|---|---|
Flooring Type | Carpet up to ½” thick or Hard Surfaces - (hardwood, laminate, linoleum, vinyl, and tile) | Hard Surfaces - (hardwood, laminate, linoleum, vinyl, and tile) | Hard Surfaces - (hardwood, laminate, linoleum, vinyl, and tile) | Carpet (low profile) | Hard Surfaces - (hardwood, laminate, linoleum, vinyl, and tile) |
Price | Check Price on Amazon | Check Price on Amazon | Check Price on Amazon | Check Price on Amazon | Check Price on Amazon |
Material | Polycarbonate | Vinyl | Vinyl | Vinyl | Vinyl |
Style | Rectangular w/ Lip, Contoured, Corner | Rectangular With or Without Lip | Rectangular With or Without Lip | Rectangular w/ Lip | Rectangular w/ Lip |
Measurements | 47" x 35" 48" x 53" 48" x 60" 49" x 39" 59" x 47" | 47" x 35" 48" x 36" | 36" x 48" 48" x 60" | 36” x 37” | 45” x 53” |
Some of the things we liked about this floor mat include:
Important note: If you are buying a floor mat for a carpet floor, it is worth spending a few extra dollars to buy a stronger, higher quality mat. Unlike the Floortex Ultimat, the majority of mats out there are not sturdy enough to be used on deeper pile carpet. The wheels will sink down. An exception may be low profile carpet. You can skimp on the price a little if you are buying for a hard surface floor (hardwood, laminate, tile, etc), but for carpet, make sure you buy a floor mat that is sturdy enough hold your weight without the wheels sinking down and indenting. The polycarbonate Floortex Ultimat works well for carpet floors.
It is smooth on one side and embossed on the other. The embossed side is the top of the mat and the smooth side is the bottom. A smooth bottom mat is what you want to look for when buying a chair mat for hard floors. The chair mats with spikes (or grippers) on the bottom are designed for carpet and will damage hardwood floors! It is also worth mentioning that the bottom is not sticky which makes it appropriate for use on laminate floors as well.
It is slightly cheaper than our top pick, the Floortex Ultimat. You can get by with a slightly lesser quality chair mat for hard floors as opposed to carpet. Since hard floors are solid, the wheels of your computer chair will not sink down into the floor mat. This means a thinner floor mat is less likely to crack on a hardwood or other hard surface floor.
The floor mat will arrive rolled up. It should flatten out on its own, but if not put it out in the sun for a few hours. You can also use a hair dryer to heat it if there is an edge curled up.
Please note that this mat is made of vinyl and vinyl has an odor. This mat may have a vinyl odor once removing it from the box. This probably isn’t an issue for most people, but just something to be aware of. The smell should be gone within a few days.
Overall, the ProSource Multitask mat is a great option for a chair mat for hard floors. At this price, it is hard to beat which makes this chair mat for hard floors the best value.
Below are a few tips and guidelines to follow when purchasing an office chair mat:
This article has made several references to carpet pile. Carpet pile is the actual fiber attached to the carpet backing. When you walk across carpet, the part your feet come in contact with is the pile.
The pile of carpet you have determines the thickness of office chair mat you should buy. The thicker the pile of your carpet the heavier the chair mat you will need. This is because a flimsy office chair mat on plush carpet will make the wheels sink down into the floor mat and may cause it to crack. Polycarbonate mats are recommended on any carpet above a low pile.
Business offices generally have low pile carpeting because there is a significant amount of foot traffic and general soiling.
Deep pile carpet is carpet that has longer fibers. It is thicker style of carpet. An example of deep pile carpeting is plush or shag carpet.
Below is a chart outlining the different types of floors and what type of office chair mat you need.
Floor Type | Material | Bottom Surface | Thickness |
---|---|---|---|
Hard Floors (hardwood, vinyl, linoleum, tile) | Vinyl or Polycarbonate | Smooth | 0.08” |
Carpet - Low Pile (<¼”) | Vinyl or Polycarbonate | Spiked | 0.09” |
Carpet - Standard Pile (<⅜”) | Vinyl or Polycarbonate | Spiked | 0.09” |
Carpet - Medium Pile (<¾”) | Polycarbonate | Spiked | 0.11” |
Carpet - Deep or Plush Pile (>¾”) | Polycarbonate | Spiked | 0.11” |
If you rent a house or apartment, check your lease to see if there is a clause requiring some type of floor covering for moveable furniture. An office chair would certainly fall under this category. The reason many landlords include this clause is due to the damage an office chair can cause to a floor over time. Any damage may be deducted from your security deposit.
For the landlords out there, it may be a good idea to go ahead and provide an office chair mat to your tenant if you know they will be using an office chair. At a relatively low price, buying an office chair mat may be a better option than dealing with the hassle of collecting on the damage and making repairs to your floor.
As with any other piece of furniture, your office chair mat needs the proper care. Below are a few best practices to care for and use your office chair mat.
We hope you found this article about office chair mats informative. If you have any questions please leave us a comment below. Once again, we are recommending the Floortex Ultimat as the best chair mat for carpet floors and the ProSource Clear Multitask chair mat for hard floors. Enjoy!
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