4 Things to Know About Mouse Pad Material and Mouse Foot Wear

Soft cloth pads are easiest on mouse feet PTFE mouse feet are a soft polymer, and hard surfaces like plastic, glass, or aluminum act like sandpaper over time. Cloth pads have a yielding, woven surface that creates less abrasive contact.

Hard pads shred mouse feet quickly Speed pads with hard coatings or glass pads can wear down your mouse feet in weeks or months. The tradeoff is lower friction for fast gliding, but you will replace feet more often.

Fine-weave cloth pads maximize foot life A fine-weave cloth pad like a Steelseries QcK or Zowie G-SR will let your mouse feet last years instead of months.

Stick with cloth unless you are competing If you are not competing at a high level, just use a cloth pad. The durability benefit far outweighs the slight speed advantage of hard pads.