- Float is a number from 0.00 to 1.00: the lower it is, the cleaner the skin looks.
- The five wear grades — FN, MW, FT, WW, BS — are simply float ranges.
- Every skin has its own minimum and maximum float, which is why not all of them exist in Factory New.
- An extremely low float (for example 0.0000x) carries a collector's premium.
- Float never changes — not from playing, not from trades, not from stickers.
The float value (wear value) is a fractional number between 0.00 and 1.00 assigned to an item at the moment it is created: when a case is opened, when it drops, or when a trade-up contract completes. It determines how worn the skin looks, and it stays the same forever.
Float is exactly why two AK-47s with the same name can differ twofold in price, and sometimes tenfold.
The five wear grades are just float ranges
The wear grade you see in an item's name is not a separate property but the “box” the number landed in.
| Grade | Short form | Float range |
|---|---|---|
| Factory New | Factory New / FN | 0.00 – 0.07 |
| Minimal Wear | Minimal Wear / MW | 0.07 – 0.15 |
| Field-Tested | Field-Tested / FT | 0.15 – 0.38 |
| Well-Worn | Well-Worn / WW | 0.38 – 0.45 |
| Battle-Scarred | Battle-Scarred / BS | 0.45 – 1.00 |
Why not every skin has a Factory New
Every skin has its own minimum and maximum float — the so-called capped float. If an item's minimum is 0.14, it will never appear in Factory New or Minimal Wear: its market starts at Field-Tested. The reverse also happens — some skins have a maximum below 0.45, so a Battle-Scarred version simply does not exist.
- A range capped at the top makes an item more expensive on average: there are no “bad” copies on the market.
- A range capped at the bottom creates a shortage of clean versions, and prices for FT copies get pulled up.
- A full 0.00–1.00 range means the widest possible price spread within one name.
How float affects price
Two effects are at work, and it matters not to confuse them.
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Crossing between grades
This is the main price jump. The difference between float 0.0699 and 0.0701 is hundredths, but the first item sells as Factory New and the second already as Minimal Wear — and the price can differ by half again or double.
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Position inside a grade
Within one range the price rises smoothly. Demand is particularly strong for “low FT” (around 0.15) and “low MW” (around 0.07): visually they are almost indistinguishable from the next grade up, yet they cost less.
Collector floats: 0.0000x and 0.999x
A separate market exists for extreme values. Items with a float around 0.0001 (“zeroes”) and with the maximum possible wear are prized in their own right, regardless of how they look.
How to check your skin's float
The CS2 interface only shows the wear grade. The number itself is available through item inspection: Steam publishes the data and external tools read it.
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Copy the inspect link
In your inventory, right-click “Inspect in Game” and copy the link of the form
steam://rungame/730/…. -
Paste it into a float checker
Any popular wear-checking tool will show the exact value, the pattern and the list of stickers.
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Check the item before trading
This matters most in direct deals with players: the name matches, but the specific copy can be noticeably worse.
Float in trade-up contracts
A CS2 trade-up contract takes 10 items of one rarity and returns one item of the next grade up. The float of the result is not random: it is calculated as the average wear of all ten items you put in, projected onto the range of the resulting skin.
That is where all the “contract maths” comes from: hunters for clean items buy up low-float inputs to get a Factory New at the end. It is a separate mechanic and should not be confused with trading several skins for one specific item — for that, see How to trade several skins for one.
Float myths
- “A skin degrades if you play a lot.” No: the value is fixed when the item is created.
- “Stickers raise the float.” No: stickers and charms do not affect wear.
- “Trading resets the wear.” No: the item moves to its new owner together with its float.
- “Factory New is always the better buy.” Not always: paying up for the grade only makes sense where the difference is genuinely visible.
Frequently asked questions
How do I check my skin's float?
Through item inspection using third-party tools and extensions that read Steam's public inspection data. The CS2 client itself only shows the wear grade, not the exact number.
Can float change over time?
No. The value is fixed when the item is created and stays that way forever — “wear from playing” exists only visually in the description, not in the data.
Is Factory New always more expensive than Field-Tested?
Almost always, but not always worth the premium. On some skins the visual difference between MW and FT is barely noticeable, while the price gap is twofold.
What is a capped float?
It is the float range limit of a specific skin. If an item's minimum float is 0.14, for example, it will never appear in Factory New, and its market starts at Field-Tested.
