Do hard mousepads wear down mouse feet faster than cloth ones?

Yes, significantly. Hard surfaces like plastic or aluminum act as abrasives for PTFE feet, grinding them down faster than cloth pads, which let feet glide with minimal friction wear. You’ll notice the difference in a few months on hard pads versus a year or more on cloth. Replacement feet are cheap and easy to swap, so the trade-off is speed and consistency for more frequent replacements.