What are mouse feet?
Mouse feet or mouse skates are responsible for keeping your mouse gliding smoothly on a mouse pad. They’re found on the bottom of the mouse and keep the mouse bottom elevated off of the pad to minimize friction while still keeping it close enough for the sensor to track properly.
What are mouse feet made of?
Most mouse feet are made of Polytetrafluoroethylene (PTFE) also known as Teflon, it’s a synthetic polymer known for having a very low coefficient of friction. The PTFE is usually adhered to a piece of double sided tape to stick to the bottom of the mouse. There are some mice that don’t use PTFE for mouse feet, you want to avoid the mouse feet, the more consistent and smooth a glide, the better it’ll be for your gameplay.
Things to look out for in mouse feet
Material
PTFE purity, this can be hard to find out about in stock mouse feet, some PTFE mouse feet have a blend of other plastic along with PTFE to get a black colour for example. The purest PTFE is going to be completely white and those feet will have the smoothest glide.
Thickness
All stock mice won’t have any issues since the included mouse feet tuned for the sensor, but mice feet that are too thick can cause tracking issues. On the flip side, thicker mouse feet will last a bit longer as the mouse feet wear down over time.
Edges
It’s better to have mouse feet with soft edges to avoid any scratchiness during gameplay.
Break-in period
All mouse feet need some time to polish up a little and get the right surface for your mousepad, don’t get feet right out of the box.
Are aftermarket mouse feet worth it?
They’re not expensive, but if your mouse feet are generally new and you don’t feel a ton of friction using your mouse I’d say that your stock mouse feet will do the job fine. This was the case on my G305, which is still relatively new, the glide on the aftermarket was just slightly faster than stock. If you find your mouse has too much friction, then yes they’re worth it. If your mouse feet are getting worn down and you feel a difference in your mouse, new mouse feet are totally worth it.
How to replace mouse feet
If you do decide to replace your mouse feet, rest assured that the process is super easy.
The best way to avoid any sticky situations is to take a hair dryer and heat up the glue underneath the mouse feet, then use something thin to lift an edge and peel off the old mouse feet.
Once all feet are off, make sure to clean the surface with rubbing alcohol to remove any adhesive and let dry.
Aftermarket feet will be cut to the same shape for the mouse, it’s just a simple peel and stick. Remove any protective plastic on the PTFE surface as necessary.
Aftermarket mouse feet brands
There are a couple of brands that have made a name for themselves, they all differ slightly, they all generally work well.
Hyperglides
The OG and most popular brand. Hyperglides use full virgin-grade PTFE, the feet are rounded and the glide is likely the fastest you’ll get on the market. The Hyperglides are also some of the thicker aftermarket pads out there, it might cause some issues with low LOD settings.
Corepad Skatez
Corepads also use pure PTFE, one major difference is that their feet don’t have curved edges, making them scratchier at certain angles. Corepad does seem to have much better mouse coverage than Hyperglide.
Hotline Games
An up and comer for sure. None of their feet are pure PTFE, instead, they offer 3 different lines that cater to different tastes:
- Performance line is very similar to stock pads, in case
- Competition is their speed offering, mixing PTFE with lubricant to get maximum glide
- Master is their control offering, offering a consistent glide while maintaining a control speed
Where to buy mouse feet
Mouse feet can be tricky to find, here are the places that I found luck:
- Amazon has a large selection of mouse feet from multiple brands
- Lethalgaminggear.com has all the big mouse feet brands
- Maxgaming.com is stocking the latest and greatest Superglide’s
