It goes without saying that multiple parts are assembled together in the process of manufacturing a chair. When we use chairs regularly, they tend to wear and tear due to regular use and movement. With time, the nuts, bolts, screws and other components are likely to get loose, making a chair squeaky. Sometimes, a squeaky chair indicates that it needs a fresh layer of lubrication.
If you are using a squeaky desk chair for the past few days at home or office, you mustn’t neglect the problem. There are various ways in which you can fix the noise without requiring professional help!
No matter if it’s your gaming chair or office chair or desk chair that has become squeaky and noisy, we have you covered. This guide talks about the various methods to repair a squeaky chair in simple steps. Keep reading below to know more.
11 Ways to Stop a Chair from Squeaking
According to a study, it has been found that the productivity of the majority is affected due to unwanted noise in the surrounding. Not only does the productivity level reduce, but also their creativity, concentration levels are compromised.
Squeaky sounds from office chairs are a nuisance. For employees and students, nothing can be more annoying than a noisy chair. Fortunately, a squeaky chair can be repaired. In this guide, we have revealed the various methods of fixing a squeaky chair. If you want to stop chairs from squeaking, follow the methods listed below.
Identify the source of the noise
Tightening the joints, lubricating the bolts and screws, etc. comes later. First, you must find out where the noise is coming from. Though it’s tough and time taking, it’s important. It’s futile to fix parts of the chair that do not need repairs.
The best way to find out the spot or the source of the squeaking chair is to listen to where the sound is coming from. You can do it by sitting on the chair and intentionally moving back and forth until you find the spot. Otherwise, you can ask someone else to sit on the chair while you inspect the chair thoroughly.
If you are unable to mark the exact area from where the noise is coming, you can mark the areas that might be potential causes for squeaking sounds.
Keep your tools ready
If you have found out the weak spot that’s causing the noise, well, now, you must proceed to repair that part. There are some commonly needed tools for this job like a metal hammer, a screwdriver, a drill, some nails,a bolt and an expert recommended lubricant and an adhesive. You must keep them handy.
If you have to open the various components of the chair and assemble them again, you might require a drill and bolt remover bits. While attaching the components, use new bolts instead of the old ones. Also, before attaching the metal pieces into the chair, if any, apply a lubricant. On the other hand, if the chair has different parts glued together, use a heavy duty construction adhesive.
In this regard, you must remember that you may not need every tool while repairing a squeaky chair. But, it’s better to keep all of them handy, especially if you have multiple potential faulty areas to inspect.
Now that you have arranged every tool you might need, you may start working on the chair. For your convenience, turn it upside down.
Clean or Replace Rusted Parts
To fix a squeaky chair, cleaning its rusted parts is important. Especially if you are using a metallic chair and it’s making loud squeaky noises, you must inspect the swivel or the height adjustment knobs and replace them if they have rusted.
Use toothbrushes, steel wool or white vinegar to clean the rust. You can also use carbonated beverages. If you do not want to keep the rusted parts, it’s better to replace them with new ones. However, the swivel or the height adjustment knob may not be replaced. So, the best thing to do in that case is apply a rust deterrent lubricant in those areas.
Tighten Any Loose Screws, Bolts, and Nuts
A lot of times, people start to panic when they come across a squeaky chair. A squeaky chair doesn’t always mean it has to be replaced. Sometimes, chair squeaking can be stopped by making small efforts, like tightening the bolts, screws and nuts or cleaning the rust and adding lubrication.
If your office chair is squeaking incessantly, and you can’t bear the noise anymore, you must inspect if any of its components has become loose. The squeaking noise is extremely annoying and therefore one must stop the office chair from squeaking. Probably if you tighten the loose screws, bolts and nuts, your problem would be sorted.
Take a screwdriver to tighten the nuts, bolts and other screws. You can also use a drill with a bolt bit to tighten all connections. If you are confident enough in your skills, you can replace the old nuts and bolts with new ones and nail them to the chair.
Supposing you do not use a wooden chair and there are no screws and bolts used to hold the pieces together. What would you do? Simply rock the loose limbs of the chair, until they fall off. Now, install them again using wood glue.
Once you are done, turn the chair upside down and inspect it . Now, sit on it and see if it is still squeaking. If yes, then it means you must have missed some bolts and screws. Check other areas thoroughly , especially the awkward places and see if there are loose bolts and screws.
Lubricate the Moving Components
Does your chair creak when leaning back? Why don’t you try lubricating the moving components of the chair and see the result? Lubricating or oiling the joints means adding a recommended lubricant on the bolts, screws, nuts, etc. to help reduce friction and lessen the squeaky noise.
Adding a lubricant is an extremely easy process. Simply spray or pour some lubricant on the areas you want and pat them dry. There’s another method of application. You can pour some lubricant on a cotton pad and rub it onto the problematic areas, instead of directly spraying it on the parts of the chair. This will allow you to enjoy more control over the application process.
Once you are done, you must test if the chair is squeaking. Even after adding a lubricant, if your chair still squeaks, remove all bolts, nuts and screws. Clean them properly and pour a good amount of lubrication. Now, make sure they are dry before you reinstall them.
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Fix the Springs
Another easy method to fix a squeaky chair is to check the springs at the back of the chair. Sometimes, office chairs creak when leaning back because there’s excessive tension where the spring’s ends rub against the housing ends. Wondering how you would fix this? It’s simple.
Take oil and apply it to the seat tension spring that can be found inside the turn knob housing. Rotate the knob in the required direction to loosen it. Now remove the turn knob so that you can spray oil or lubricant inside the housing. Once done, tighten the knob again. Don’t forget to check if this trick worked!
Check the Wheels
There are various designs of chairs available nowadays. Similarly, there are several types of wheels one can find attached in chairs. However, standard chairs have wheels attached to the body of the chair through a metal post mounted onto the top portion of the wheel.
These metal parts are exposed to wear and tear. With time, they become loose, making the wheel’s axles squeak due to friction.
Sometimes, loose metal parts are responsible for a squeaky chair and the solution for this is to lubricate the wheels. To do that, flip your chair upside down and take off the wheels.
Keep the wheels properly on a clean area and spray some silicone solution onto the wheels. While doing so, don’t forget about the metal posts and do the same to them. Once you have lubricated them well, install the wheel back in its position, carefully.
Apply Glue on Loose Joints
Do you have a squeaky computer chair to deal with? If it’s a wooden chair, it probably has some loose joints that are causing the noise. In that case, applying an adhesive might help you get rid of the problem.
A lot of people use glue when it comes to fixing a squeaky chair. However, for this purpose, you must use wood glue. The ordinary glue available wouldn’t work if you try to join the limbs of a chair together.
Firstly, you must spot the weak limb and apply glue as required. After you are done, allow the limb to rest for sometime. After some time, see if there’s any excess glue around it. If yes, wipe it clean. To make the glue thicker, you can add some wood filler. It would give you better results as it will help stabilize the limb better.
It needs to be mentioned that this process is effective only if you are dealing with a squeaky wooden chair. If it’s a metallic one, there’s no point in gluing the limbs. For metallic chairs, consider the other methods we have discussed.
Use a Wood-swelling Liquid
Sometimes, a squeaky wooden chair suffers from very loose limbs. In that case,a wood glue cannot hold the limbs firmly in position. In such times, you must consider expanding the dowels using a wood swelling liquid.
What happens is that sometimes the dowels shrink. Therefore, some areas of the chair become loose. If you are to restore them to their original form, you can stop the chair from squeaking again.
Replace the Wooden Joint Plugs
Sometimes, a squeaky wooden chair can only be fixed by replacing the wooden joint plugs or the nails, especially if the hardware seems irreparable or out of shape.
In that case, installing new hardware seems a better option. It would definitely stop the noise and turn the chair into a new one. However, if you are unwilling to replace the old hardware, use more nails or some bracket hinges to stabilize the chair.
If you intend to use more screws and nails to reinforce the joints, make sure the screws are long lasting and secure the wood properly. However ,they shouldn’t be too long and mustn’t come out of the other side of the wood.
Replace the Chair
If you have tried all the above-mentioned methods and nothing seems to work, probably it’s time to get rid of your old chair and get a new one.
Don’t keep dealing with a squeaky desk chair. It’s annoying and frustrating. Once you try out the various methods and see no results, wait no more. Get yourself a new chair and stop investing in the old one. When nothing works, purchasing a new, ergonomic chair.
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The bottom line
While it’s true that squeaky chairs are annoying, it doesn’t always mean a new purchase. We expect that the list of methods we discussed above would be sufficient for fixing a squeaky chair.
If you manage to stop a chair from squeaking, follow some preventive measures to ensure this doesn’t happen again. Basically, you have to be careful with your chair.
Don’t throw yourself into the chairs and lean back on the two legs at the back. If you continue to do so, the hinges might loosen the joints or the moving mechanisms of a chair, which will again cause squeaking sounds.
Therefore, be careful with the way you treat your chair and continue to follow the preventive methods to keep your chair in good form.