Are Cheap AliExpress PTFE Skates Worth It?

Quality Over Quantity?

Since I am a SkyPad 3.0 enjoyer I first followed the usual approach of using the mousepad with super high-quality PTFE feet like Tiger Ice, Corepad, Corepad Air, etc. While smooth at the start no matter how much I cleaned the surface of the mousepad and feet, with time and use these just stopped being as smooth as I wanted them to be (as expected you cannot get rid of wear and tear).

While thicker larger feet like the Corepads offer a smoother glide overall, on a SkyPad dust and debris will get stuck in them easier resulting in the screech of death many SkyPad users are accustomed to. The choice was then to use smaller PTFE dots so the chances of things getting stuck in them are lower.

AliExpress PTFE

Since buying Tiger Ice dots or BTL dots is not sustainable for anyone changing mouse feet every 2-3 weeks I started looking into alternative ways to acquire a lot of PTFE dots for cheap so I can always have a fresh pair to swap when I start feeling like my SkyPad ate the current ones.

Through some guidance from Discord friends, I have found a couple of AliExpress PTFE dots that looked promising (ex 1 & 2) and have tried them out. In short, these are about 90% as good as the expensive PTFE dots but can be bought in bulk since these are MUCH cheaper.

The glide is smooth and these wear down at the same rate as expensive feet resulting in a lot less guilt about swapping them every week even. You can buy 40 of these PTFE dots for under 2$ and since shipping on AliExpress is usually free and these are cheap items you do not have to pay extra shipping or taxes.

The only real downside is that you will have to wait for the cheap PTFE skates for about a month since AliExpress shipping is notoriously slow.

Glass or Ceramic Mouse Skates

Another solution to this mouse skate smoothness dilemma could be using glass or ceramic mouse skates. These do not wear down (or if they do the process is extremely slow) making them a good investment.

The issue for me is that you cannot use glass/ceramic skates on a glass mousepad like the SkyPad 3.0 because you will ruin the pad’s surface. If you are using a hybrid/Cordura pad then these might be a good investment.

You need to also consider that these glass skates are much more expensive and their speed will vary depending on the mousepad you are using. On slow cloth pads, glass skates are slower than PTFE, making them a sub-par option, while on hybrid pads the speed is equal to PTFE feet.

For certain users, glass/ceramic skates are not as smooth as PTFE no matter what they try, so sticking to PTFE mouse feet is their only choice.

Cheap Is Good

In short, for people playing on hard surfaces, or those that prefer the PTFE glide, buying a bunch of cheap PTFE skates/dots from AliExpress is a sensible solution to a lot of troubles. Paying pennies for a bunch of PTFE skates makes it so you do not feel pressured into using your current skates until they completely die out, and allows you to enjoy a completely smooth glide at all times.