Protecting expensive furniture, flooring and equipment doesn't have to be a complicated or costly endeavor.
Furniture glides are a simple yet effective tool for preventing furniture and floor damage, protecting everything from patio and office furniture to chairs, appliances and most types of flooring. These glides can be easily applied to the base of furniture ends and are built to stay on throughout their lifecycle, creating a cost-effective solution to protect against scratches, dings, dents and more.
On the other hand, finishing parts are products designed to cap or plug holes or other openings on commercial-grade equipment and furnishings, such as finished metal legs or tube ends that are left open and exposed. These parts are similar in appearance to furniture glides and can be placed over or in these openings to not only close things off, but also to prevent injury or damage to surfaces while improving overall aesthetics.
In this comprehensive guide, we'll explore the benefits of both solutions, help you better understand the various material and size options available and provide practical tips for selecting the right protection for your specific applications.
Furniture glides are protective parts, often coming in the form of caps and plugs, that are designed to safeguard the ends of tables, chairs, desks and more, while also protecting the floors they are placed on.
These glides not only shield furniture and flooring from scratches and dents, but provide a thick base that can fix bothersome wobbling and offer greater durability to prolong the life of furniture.
Furniture glides can be installed to an application by hand and are designed to stay on securely until it’s time for them to be replaced.
With a large variety of shapes and sizes to choose from, there is usually a catalog furniture glide available for most applications, whether it is applied to tubing, rods or another structure.
Finishing parts are also often a form of cap or plug, but are more purposely designed to close off openings in a designed product, such as steel rods or tubing, commonly found on exercise equipment and other metal furnishings, appliances and more.
While finishing parts resemble furniture glides, they focus more on appearance than function. They cover exposed edges, giving products a clean, complete look instead of leaving rough ends or openings visible.
Common applications include household and patio furniture, lawn and garden equipment, exercise equipment, tools and appliances.
· Household furniture
· Office furniture
· Patio furniture
· Metal furniture
· Lawn & garden equipment
· Appliances
· And any other furniture
· Furniture & Appliances
· Exercise equipment
· Warehouse racking
· Metal display structures/shelving
· Tubing & packaging
· Threaded & finished part ends
· Other metal structures with open ends
Furniture glides are generally made from plastic, vinyl, nylon, rubber, steel or felt. Plastic furniture glides, commonly made from injection molded polyethylene, stand out as one of the most versatile and cost-effective options. Unlike nylon, rubber or felt alternatives, plastic doesn't collect dirt and debris from floors as easily, maintaining a cleaner appearance over time.
Plastic glides are also known for their sturdiness and ability to stay in place. Where felt and nylon options tend to fall off with friction from regular use, plastic glides are engineered with internal ribbing to stay securely attached to furniture, ensuring consistent protection over the product's lifecycle.
Finishing parts can also be made from a variety of materials, with injection molded polyethylene being the most common.
From a value perspective, plastic represents one of the more cost-effective furniture glide and finishing part options available, especially when purchased in bulk quantities.
This combination of durability, reliability and affordability makes plastic an ideal choice where long-term performance and budget considerations are important factors.
Furniture glides are available in several shapes, with the most common being round, square and rectangular. Finishing parts can typically be found in round and square shapes.
Each series or part of furniture glides and finishing parts is available in a range of sizes, making for hundreds of parts available to provide the perfect fit for a specific application.
With so many options available, it may feel overwhelming when determining the right size and shape of protection. Luckily, there are several simple ways to ensure you’re getting the right shape and size for parts before making a large purchase.
With over 150 individual part sizes for furniture glides and finishing parts available on our site, we understand how challenging it can be to select the correct part(s) for your needs.
While you can likely determine the right shape based on your furniture legs or application base, finding the right size and material often requires testing.
To help with this selection process, we offer free samples that allow you to try different sizes within a particular series or test multiple materials before making a large purchase.
For those who prefer smaller quantities after sampling, Micropacks and Easypacks are available for purchase in our SQR, CCF, RER, FP, COF and SQRV series.
Caplugs manufactures a range of options for furniture glides and finishing parts. Available in a variety of standard catalog sizes, we fit the most commonly used applications, offering quality you can trust to stay in place for the life of your product. We also offer custom options, including unique colors and sizes or even custom designs to meet a specific need.
Manufactured in our U.S. facilities, including our Buffalo, N.Y. headquarters, you can trust that we will have the furniture and finishing solutions you require, in stock and ready to ship fast. Shop for parts conveniently on our site or by calling our team at 1.888.CAPLUGS to learn more.
Whether you require off-the-shelf furniture glides and finishing parts or have custom needs, Caplugs has the available product lines and expert in-house team to meet your specific protection needs.
For custom solutions, let the largest, most experienced in-house team of design engineers develop it for you from initial design to final production. We offer extensive custom molding solutions to meet your cost, performance, and production requirements.
