How to Care for your Office Chair

A good office chair offers you much more than just comfort. Ergonomic office chairs are not only comfortable to sit on but they also help to boost your work productivity a great deal. However, office chairs, like all things, will not stay pristine and spotless on their own. As you use them, the chairs will become dirtier and more worn out. Without proper care, your chairs could face serious issues and you might have to repair them or replace them altogether.

Caring for your office chairs isn’t very difficult, and it doesn’t take much time. As another plus, cleaning your chairs will also prevent unpleasant odours, which will put off some people. Here are some steps you can take to ensure that your office chair will always be pristine.

Check out the care tag on the chair

Every office chair, from desk chairs, conference chairs, to guest chairs, has a specific care tag which tells you how to care for the chair. It is important to understand that every chair is different, so you can’t care for all chairs the same way. For example, some chairs might work well with solvent-based solutions, while others can only stand water-based solutions. For this reason, checking the care tag should be done right at the beginning to avoid damaging the chair.

Clean the spills and stains

Spills and stains are the most conspicuous problems on a dirty chair, so ideally, you will want to get them off your office chair as soon as possible. First, pick solid trash off your chair using a wet towel. If your chair is made of fabric, be careful not to rub it. Then, clean the chair’s surface by using a piece of cloth with the appropriate solution. Finally, remove stains by applying rubbing alcohol on them. Don’t rub too hard if your chair is made of fabric, and don’t use rubbing alcohol altogether for fabric chairs.

Clean the arms, wheels, and legs

The wheels of your office chairs usually come in contact with dirt on the floor, along with other debris. If the wheels become too dirty, they won’t be able to function effectively and your chair’s movement will suffer. Start cleaning them by turning the chair over and taking off the wheels. Then, use a butter knife to remove the gunk, dried food, and other debris that got caught up in the wheel. If there’s hair in the wheel, you can use a pair of scissors or tweezers to remove it. Then, use a dry cloth to clean the wheels. If they are particularly dirty, you could dabble the cloth in the water a little bit. Wash the water dry afterwards with a clean towel, and then reinstall the wheels to finish.

The arms are pretty easy to clean and you don’t really have to pay much attention to it. Just use a piece of damp cloth to wash it and then let it dry.

Looking after your office chairs is a necessary step to ensure that the chairs work properly. If you don’t clean the chairs regularly, especially the wheels, your chairs’ ergonomic effects might diminish, and you will not make the most out of the chairs anymore.

*All information in this article should be used as an example. Always consult the manufacturer's care tag before performing the task.