Rounding Up The Very Best Furniture Sliders For Your Hardwood Floors

No matter how meticulous you are with protecting your floors by only using the appropriate cleaners, limiting their sun exposure, and avoiding wearing shoes (especially high heels) in the house, if you don't take precautions with your furniture, it's likely your floors will become scratched and damaged over time. In fact, your furniture is actually one of the most frequent culprits involved in damaging your wood floors. Whether it's from heavy furniture sinking into the floor over time and leaving dents, or scratches from chairs and tables being slid across the floor either during moving or day to day use, furniture can wreak chaos on your beloved hardwoods. The good news is, furniture sliders are a simple and inexpensive fix for your furniture damaging your flooring.

Furniture sliders, also known as furniture gliders or pads, are an essential tool for protecting your hardwood floors from damage caused by your chairs, couches, and other types of furniture. While they all more or less serve the same primary function of protecting your floors, not all gliders are built the same. They come in all different types of materials, such as plastic, rubber, and felt, and can be shaped as both circles and rectangles. It's even possible to DIY your own furniture sliders out of items you have around the house. When deciding what type of furniture sliders to use, you can consider factors like exactly what you need them for, how clean you keep your floors, and how delicate your flooring is. To make your decision a little easier, here are the best furniture sliders to keep your wood flooring looking like new.

Some of the most common types of furniture sliders are made out of felt. Felt sliders are incredibly soft, which makes them an excellent choice for protecting softer types of hardwood floors. They're also very quiet compared to other types of furniture gliders, which makes them a good choice if you're in a space where you'd like to limit noise. Something to consider with felt sliders is that they're not the most grippy to the floor, which makes them excellent for items that you'll be frequently moving around and sliding, such as dining table chairs, desk chairs, and bar stools. However, this also means they won't be the best option for items that need to be more stationary, like tables, desks, and other larger pieces of furniture.

Despite being a popular choice, felt sliders do have their drawbacks. For starters, they do get dirty, as the felt can easily get dust and hair stuck to it. This can cause larger issues because if crumbs or dust get stuck under the felt and you slide them across the floor, it's possible to leave little scratches in your hardwood. Additionally, felt is known to be the least durable material for furniture sliders, as the adhesive can wear out and the sliders will fall off. If you've ever used felt sliders in your home, you probably know exactly what we're talking about! With that said, options like these X-Protector Felt Furniture Sliders are still a great way to protect your hardwood floors — as long as you keep them clean, make sure they stay put, and replace them if they don't.

If you get tired of the maintenance required for felt sliders but still want to protect your hardwood floors, rubber sliders are a great alternative. Rubber furniture sliders are much more durable than felt sliders, and they also won't collect dust and hair the same way, which makes them great if you're looking for an option with less upkeep. Additionally, rubber sliders don't make a ton of noise when you slide them across the floor, and they also do an excellent job of protecting your hardwood floors.

On the other hand, rubber sliders are not nearly as movable as felt ones. Where felt gliders easily and smoothly slide objects across the floor, rubber sliders will actually help prevent your furniture from sliding around. This isn't a bad thing though, it just means that rubber sliders serve a slightly different purpose than felt ones, and are great for protecting your floors while also keeping items more in place. If you have furniture like a desk, dining table, or coffee table that you really don't want sliding around your house, rubber sliders are a great option. However, if you are looking into purchasing furniture sliders to help protect your floors while you either move out or rearrange your furniture, you should probably look into other options. You can purchase sliders like these Slipstick GorillaPads, but it's important to keep in mind that you'll likely have to lift your furniture in order to move it around.

Permanent furniture sliders are slightly less popular than felt and rubber sliders, but are nevertheless very effective at protecting your hardwood floors. These furniture sliders function by screwing onto the bottoms of your furniture legs so that the protective sliders will not come off. Depending on which material you prefer, you can find both Screw-on Felt Pads and permanent Furniture Sliders made of rubber on Amazon.

The main benefit of using permanent furniture sliders is that they won't come off as easily. Using permanent felt sliders is an especially attractive option if you prefer to use felt over rubber but don't like how easily they come off. If you don't like the idea of screwing into the legs of your furniture because you don't want to damage them, you may be better off sticking with standard furniture pads that attach with an adhesive. Another concern with screw-on furniture gliders is that, if the felt or rubber wears through, then there is a possibility that the screw itself can scratch and damage the hardwood floors. However, since rubber is more durable than felt, this shouldn't be an issue with rubber screw-on sliders. Additionally, the majority of users of screw-on furniture pads don't seem to have this issue, so as long as you keep an eye on the pads to make sure they're nowhere near wearing through to the screw you likely shouldn't run into this problem with permanent furniture sliders.

While felt furniture pads are great because they allow furniture to slide easily and quietly without damaging your floors, their biggest issue is that they get dirty so easily. If you want a furniture slide option that functions similarly to felt but is much easier to clean, you may want to consider using furniture socks. When using furniture socks, you'll still be able to protect your hardwood floors while sliding your furniture around with ease, just like with felt pads. However, when your furniture socks inevitably collect dust and hair, it's easy to simply slide them off the legs of your furniture and toss them in the wash. 

Because furniture socks slide over the feet of your furniture, they will be more visible than other furniture pad options. However, Amazon has several different shades of furniture socks available so you can find the ones that best suit the color of your furniture. There are even festive Christmas Chair Cover Socks and adorable Cute Cat Paw Furniture Leg Socks if you want to have fun with them. One thing to note regarding furniture socks is that they're typically only available in narrower sizes for furniture like chairs and stools. For larger furniture legs, you'll likely have to use a different furniture slide option.

Some of the best types of furniture sliders to protect your hardwood floors are the ones you make all by yourself. You can either repurpose old items around the house or build some out of a few pieces of scraps and crafting materials. For example, if you happen to have any old and unwanted koozies lying around your house, simply slide them onto furniture legs to protect your hardwood floors while you're moving things around. And in a pinch, it's possible to use an old pair of clean socks to protect your floors while moving furniture. An old leather belt from your closet or a thrift shop can also be cut up into furniture sized squares and used as a furniture slider that won't attract hair and dirt.

You may be surprised at the items that are able to be transformed into furniture sliders — you can even repurpose old sponges into furniture sliders with just some scissors and a little bit of glue. Or, for a more stylish solution that's perfect for the crafters out there, it's possible to crochet your own floor protectors. Just be sure that whatever material you use is going to be soft enough to not scratch your floors, and you should be golden.