Unquestionably Confused wrote:
On 1/12/2017 8:47 PM, wrote:
Joseph Gwinn wrote:
One of life's minor problems that can become major aggravations are the
glides one installs on the legs of chairs to protect the floor as people
shuffle the chairs around.

I've tried a lot of things. Glides that are nailed to the end of the leg
always seem to pull out, and tear the floor up if not caught in time.
Soft plastic mushrooms. Felt wears out and also captures grit.

FWIW, I bought a roll of 1/4" F3 grade industrial pressed wool felt.

https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B00CRI0I9G/

It's nothing like the stuff sold for use on furniture. I put it
underneath almost everything over two years ago and it still looks like
new, despite my toddler's best food- and drink-slinging efforts. The
fibers are too tightly packed to retain grit, though probably its not as
great in that department as the Delrin. There's no hint of any of it
pulling apart or separating, not even under the chairs which are
constantly being slid around.

I used tin snips to cut it, and 3M aerosol adhesive (Super 77, I think)
under the wooden legs of the dining table and dining chairs. Everywhere
else the furniture is heavy enough that it didn't need to be attached.

Interesting stuff. Do you recommend sticking with the 1/4" stuff or do
you think that the 1/8" thickness would work as well if it provides
clearance for the bottom of whatever item one is sliding on the floor?

The 1/4" felt under the thin metal legs and tiny plastic feet of the bed
didn't compress as much as I expected given all the weight. My guess is that
1/8" would be enough for most cases, if not all cases.

The biggest benefit for me was being able to affix the pad with glue (if
anything at all), and not having to worry about a nail or screw scratching
the floors if the pad failed somehow. And I would think that would still be
the case with 1/8", compression or no compression.

Actually, when the 1/4" roll came I was a little worried it was, if
anything, too thick. Being so thick I worried the shear stress of being slid
around would eventually cause the felt to separate or to separate from the
legs. But it never has, which shouldn't be surprising given this grade of
industrial felt.

I lightly sanded the wood legs of the dining table and chairs hoping to get
good adhesion. The pieces were finished with Varathane's water-based
polyurethane, which (IIRC) I didn't completely sand away. I was a little
worried about the felt wicking moisture into the wood. 1/4" might better in
that regard. But hopefully I won't know for a long while how that turns out.

Also, I suppose that maybe 1/4" was better for the bed frame. The felt isn't
affixed with glue. Instead I cut the felt larger than the feet. None have
come off or even moved--not on any of the ~12 tiny feet, AFAICT--despite my
very inconsistently sized cuts. That's undoubtedly because the feet have
sunk into the felt. And 1/4" might give a better margin if a plastic
foot/cap ever breaks and the metal edge of the leg starts pressing into the
wool. But it's pretty dense felt and 1/8" might be fine in that regard.