CS2 Skin Wear Explained: Float Values from Factory New to Battle-Scarred

Every CS2 skin has a number attached to it called its float value, and that number decides how worn the finish looks. In this guide you will learn what float values are, how they map to the five exterior grades, and why two skins with the same exterior can still look a little different. By the end, you will know how to pick a wear level that suits your taste.

What is a float value?

A float value, usually shortened to “float”, is a decimal number between 0.00 and 1.00 that belongs to one individual skin. The lower the number, the cleaner and fresher the finish looks. The higher the number, the more visible wear the finish shows.

Float is what separates a crisp, freshly painted look from a scuffed, well-used one. It is also the basis for the exterior name you see on a skin, such as Factory New or Field-Tested. That name is simply a label for the range the float falls into.

Two facts are worth remembering from the start:

• Float is fixed. It stays the same for the life of the item. Using the weapon in matches does not wear it down, so the skin you receive is the skin you keep.
• Every copy is individual. Two copies of the same skin can have different floats, even when they share the same exterior name.

The five exterior grades

Rather than asking you to read raw numbers, CS2 groups floats into five named exteriors. Here is how the 0.00–1.00 scale is divided:

The ranges are not evenly sized. Field-Tested covers a wide band, Well-Worn is narrow, and Battle-Scarred takes up more than half of the whole scale. In practice, this means a single exterior can include skins that look noticeably different from each other.

Why position within a range matters

Take Field-Tested as an example. A skin with a float just above 0.15 sits right next to Minimal Wear, while one close to 0.38 sits next to Well-Worn. Both carry the same label, but the first will generally look cleaner than the second.

The same idea applies to every exterior. A Minimal Wear skin near the bottom of its range can look very close to Factory New, while one near the top may look closer to Field-Tested. That is why the label on its own never tells you the whole story.

Restricted float ranges

Not every finish can appear in every exterior. Some finishes have a restricted float range, which means their float can only fall within part of the 0.00–1.00 scale. A finish like this might not exist as Factory New, or might never reach Battle-Scarred.

This is useful to know for two reasons:

• If you are searching for a particular exterior and cannot find it, the finish may simply not come in that grade.
• A restricted range can shift what an exterior looks like for that finish. If a finish stops short of the top of the scale, for example, its Battle-Scarred versions may look tidier than the label suggests.

How float and finish work together

Float tells you how much wear a skin has, but not exactly how that wear will appear. Wear shows differently from one finish to another, so the same float can look quite different on two different designs.

This is also why a worn exterior is not automatically a bad choice. Some finishes keep their character at higher floats, and plenty of players actively prefer a worn look because it gives a weapon a used, battle-ready feel. So judge each skin on its own merits rather than by its exterior label alone.

Float is also separate from a skin’s pattern. Wear controls how worn the finish looks, while the pattern index controls how the design is placed on the weapon model. To understand the second half of that picture, read our guide to why two identical skins can look different.

How to choose the right exterior

There is no single “best” exterior. The right choice depends on how you like your skins to look and what you are comfortable spending. A few practical tips:

1. Start with what you enjoy. Buy the look you like, not the label you think you should want. A cleaner exterior is not automatically the better choice for every finish.
2. Look at the exact item. Screenshots of the specific skin you are buying show you how its wear actually appears, which matters more than the exterior name.
3. Check where the float sits. If the float is shown, see whether it is near the clean or the worn end of its exterior range.
4. Compare neighbouring grades. Exterior is one of several things that can affect a skin’s price, so it can help to compare two adjacent exteriors of the same skin side by side. Our guide to Factory New vs Minimal Wear goes into this in more detail.
5. Be sure before you buy. Because float never changes, the skin will always look the way it does today.

Key takeaways

• Float is a number from 0.00 to 1.00 that sets a skin’s exterior; lower floats look cleaner.
• The five exteriors are Factory New, Minimal Wear, Field-Tested, Well-Worn and Battle-Scarred, each covering a set float range.
• Some finishes have a restricted float range and do not appear in every exterior.
• Float is fixed for the life of the item and does not change as you use it.
• Screenshots of the exact skin tell you more than the exterior label alone.

Now that you know how to read wear, browse our full range of CS2 skins and find an exterior that suits your style.