How To Make Wood Drawers Slide Easier
Are you sick of dealing with those awfully annoying drawers which simply refuse to slide in effortlessly?
Do you have to fight the inner urge of wanting to break apart the entire dresser just to put an end to the uneven battle with the nasty drawers?
I feel you, my buddies!
The funny thing is before I reached the Do or Die point and finally decided that I MUST learn how to make wood drawers slide easier, I let more than several months pass by.
Feeling tired after work, paying more attention to my dog and cat than to myself, dealing with 2 teenage daughters and my husband working abroad for a full year, I was overwhelmed.
I hated those badass drawers but I sort of forgot about their existence until each morning I got my healthy dose of angry mood yelling at the drawers in desperation.
Ultimately, making wood drawers slide easier is a (painfully) simple, 5-minute task. Let’s jump into the easy-peasy tutorial below!
What You Will Need To Follow This Tutorial
- Paraffin
- Nylon drawer slide-tape
Pro Tips
1 – You can take advantage of paraffin substitutes, too
You don’t have any paraffin handy? No problem! You can easily substitute paraffin by opting for candles instead. Nevertheless, dry spray lubricant and even a common bar soap can work perfectly fine to help you make drawers slide smoothly.
2 – You may need to sand the wood surface lightly
In the case you are about to use nylon drawer slide tape, you may have to use 100-grit sandpaper to make sure there is no trace of dirt and/or wax on the surface of the wood drawers. Once you are done sanding, you can vacuum the dust. On the other hand, you can also remove the dust with a dry paintbrush.
3 – You don’t necessarily need to pull drawers out
It’s a common misconception that in order to make your drawers slide easy you will have to pull them out (or in other words, to disassemble them). That’s only necessary if you are dealing with a very damaged object where friction must be improved from the one end to the other thoroughly.
Step by Step Instructions for Making Wood Drawers Slide Easier
Step 1 – Quick fix wood drawers with paraffin
Image Credit: macgyverisms.wonderhowto.com
All you have to do is to rub paraffin carefully on the ends where the drawers meet. Paraffin will then act as a lubricant and it will provide a better friction to ensure the smooth gliding. However, if you are dealing with a swollen shut, then you will have to remove the bumpy areas by cutting these. As mentioned above, you can substitute paraffin and rub a candle, bar soap or dry spray lubricant instead.
Step 2 – Fix wood drawers permanently with nylon drawer slide-tape
A nylon drawer tape will put a stop to your issues with the hard-to-slide drawers once and for all. Your aim is to stick nylon drawer tape to the parts of the wood drawers which get in contact with each other and cause issues due to low friction.
Then again, we want to remind you that nylon drawer tape will refuse to stick to a waxy and/or dirty surfaces. Once you are done sanding and removing the dust left behind, use scissors to cut the nylon drawer tape to a suitable length. Finally, peel off the back of the tape, stick it carefully, and you are set and done!
Image Credit: amazon.com
Are you still putting up with the annoying wood drawers which won’t slide smoothly? We hope that this quick and no-nonsense tutorial has been of your assistance. My best advice is that you stop delaying the fast fixture! You will be ready in the blink of an eye.
If you don’t have nylon drawer tape available right now, then go for the quick fix with paraffin and fix the drawers permanently later on.
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