Factory New vs Minimal Wear: Which Should You Buy?

Factory New and Minimal Wear are the two cleanest exteriors a CS2 skin can have, and they sit right next to each other on the float scale. Choosing between them comes down to how much the difference matters to you, how the specific finish looks and what you’re comfortable spending. This guide explains what separates the two and how to decide which is right for you.

What the two exteriors actually mean

Every skin has a float value, a number from 0.00 to 1.00 that sets its exterior, meaning how worn it looks. The exterior is simply a label for a range of floats:

Factory New covers floats from 0.00 to 0.07, and Minimal Wear covers 0.07 to 0.15. Both sit at the clean end of the scale, well away from the heavier wear of Field-Tested, Well-Worn and Battle-Scarred. In listings and conversation you’ll often see them shortened to FN and MW, so “FN vs MW” is the same question this guide answers.

Float is fixed for the life of the item and does not change with use. A Minimal Wear skin will never slip to Field-Tested, however many matches you play with it, and a Factory New skin stays Factory New. You’re choosing a permanent look, not a starting point. For a full breakdown of every exterior, see our guide to skin wear and float values.

How they differ in appearance

Factory New is the cleanest band, so these skins show the least wear. Minimal Wear skins sit just above it and can show light signs of wear.

It helps to remember that exteriors are bands on a sliding scale, and Minimal Wear’s band is slightly wider than Factory New’s. A Factory New skin with a float just under 0.07 and a Minimal Wear skin just above it differ only slightly in float, even though they carry different labels. The bigger contrast is usually between a very low Factory New float and a Minimal Wear float near the top of its range.

How much you notice also depends on the finish and on how closely you look. During play you mostly see your weapon from a first-person view, while the inspect animation brings it much closer. If you enjoy inspecting your weapons, especially knives, which each have their own inspect animation, small differences in wear may stand out more.

Watch out for restricted float ranges

Not every finish can appear in every exterior. Some have a restricted float range, which means they cannot be Factory New or cannot be Battle-Scarred. If the finish you want can’t be Factory New, the choice is made for you: the cleanest exterior available will be the lowest one its range allows.

That is useful to know before you go looking for a Factory New copy that doesn’t exist. Check which exteriors are available for the skin you want before you set your heart on one.

How exterior affects price

Exterior is one of several factors that influence what a skin costs. For the same skin, Factory New often costs more than Minimal Wear because many buyers prefer the cleanest look. The size of that gap isn’t fixed, though. It varies from skin to skin and shifts with demand and availability.

Other factors can matter as much as exterior, or more:

• StatTrak™. A StatTrak™ version, which tracks the confirmed kills the owner gets with that weapon, is a different item from the standard one and is often priced differently.
• Pattern index. On finishes such as Fade, Doppler and Case Hardened, the pattern index (a number from 0 to 999) decides how the finish is placed on the model. A Minimal Wear copy with a sought-after pattern can be priced above a Factory New copy with a less popular one.
• Availability. If few Factory New copies of a skin are on offer, Minimal Wear may be the more practical option.

Which should you buy?

Choose Factory New if…

• You want the cleanest possible look and you know you’ll notice the difference.
• You often use the inspect animation, particularly on a knife or a favourite rifle.
• The skin is the centrepiece of your loadout and you’d like it to be as pristine as possible.

Choose Minimal Wear if…

• You want a clean-looking skin but would rather keep more of your budget for other items.
• The finish you want can’t be Factory New, or a Minimal Wear copy has a pattern you prefer.
• You mostly see the weapon during play rather than in close inspection.

If you’re still unsure, think about how you use each weapon. A knife you inspect often is seen up close far more than an SMG (submachine gun) you buy now and then, so it can make sense to choose a cleaner exterior for the items you look at most and accept a little wear elsewhere.

Neither option is the “correct” one. The best exterior is the one you’ll be happy looking at every time you pick up that weapon. Buy what you enjoy, and don’t feel pressure to pay for a cleaner label if it won’t change how much you like the skin.

Key takeaways

• Factory New covers floats from 0.00 to 0.07 and Minimal Wear covers 0.07 to 0.15.
• Float is fixed for the life of the item, so the exterior you buy is the exterior you keep.
• Skins either side of the 0.07 boundary differ only slightly in float.
• Factory New often costs more, but pattern, StatTrak™ and availability also affect price.
• Choose the exterior you’ll enjoy most, not the one with the best label.

Before you decide, read our guide on how to inspect a skin before you buy, or browse knives to compare exteriors for yourself.