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On Wooden Drawers, Part I
A special blind-leading-the-blind feature! (Actually, many of y'all are probably not that blind in this way.)
It turns out that wooden drawers need maintenance. And that it's easy!
My house was built in 1955 and so the kitchen drawers are made of wood, including the runners. This led to sawdust appearing in my cabinets under the drawers. Figuring out the problem (not termites!) was the first step in finding the solution.
What you do is wax the parts that slide together. You can rub a candle on it or a block of candle wax or even a bar of soap, but I decided to go with paste wax. Here is a convincing video I found.
There is such a thing as furniture paste wax. Don't use car paste wax.
My drawers just have sides that stick down past the bottom of the drawer a bit and that ride over bars of wood. We dusted these off (sawdust everywhere!) and applied the paste wax with a paper towel.
Side note: The sides of my drawers were made with plywood, and the plies going in one direction wore down more quickly than the plies in the other direction, at least on the big (heavy) drawer. This, in turn, led to the development of ruts in the supporting wood bars. Like ruffled potato chips. Tres chic!
This turned out to be AWESOME! The drawers now slide smoothly, in a way that I never knew drawers with wooden runners could. I love them now. Deeply. Seriously, next time you come over, I will make you open and close one of these drawers.
Warning: If you do this in your own house, be very careful that you do not accidentally pull out the drawer and drop it on your foot. I learned this the easy way from another online source. Still, it's very hard to break old habits.
**
Unfortunately, this treatment also filled the kitchen with the smell of poison from the solvents used to turn wax into paste wax. After a couple of days it has dissipated except while opening and closing the drawer. It never occurred to me that paste wax would be poison.
So Robin and I decided that we should do my dresser drawers right before our next vacation.
Or it turns out there's such a thing as less poisonous paste wax. Or you can make it yourself. Maybe I'll check out Breed & Co. or possibly TreeHouse to see if they have some.
If I ever do my dresser drawers, I'll try to remember to write a Part II on this subject.
Do you have any wooden drawers in your house (or at work or elsewhere)? Do they stick, make noise when you open or close them, or make sawdust? Are you a long-time expert who wants to give me and my other readers additional advice?
It turns out that wooden drawers need maintenance. And that it's easy!
My house was built in 1955 and so the kitchen drawers are made of wood, including the runners. This led to sawdust appearing in my cabinets under the drawers. Figuring out the problem (not termites!) was the first step in finding the solution.
What you do is wax the parts that slide together. You can rub a candle on it or a block of candle wax or even a bar of soap, but I decided to go with paste wax. Here is a convincing video I found.
There is such a thing as furniture paste wax. Don't use car paste wax.
My drawers just have sides that stick down past the bottom of the drawer a bit and that ride over bars of wood. We dusted these off (sawdust everywhere!) and applied the paste wax with a paper towel.
Side note: The sides of my drawers were made with plywood, and the plies going in one direction wore down more quickly than the plies in the other direction, at least on the big (heavy) drawer. This, in turn, led to the development of ruts in the supporting wood bars. Like ruffled potato chips. Tres chic!
This turned out to be AWESOME! The drawers now slide smoothly, in a way that I never knew drawers with wooden runners could. I love them now. Deeply. Seriously, next time you come over, I will make you open and close one of these drawers.
Warning: If you do this in your own house, be very careful that you do not accidentally pull out the drawer and drop it on your foot. I learned this the easy way from another online source. Still, it's very hard to break old habits.
**
Unfortunately, this treatment also filled the kitchen with the smell of poison from the solvents used to turn wax into paste wax. After a couple of days it has dissipated except while opening and closing the drawer. It never occurred to me that paste wax would be poison.
So Robin and I decided that we should do my dresser drawers right before our next vacation.
Or it turns out there's such a thing as less poisonous paste wax. Or you can make it yourself. Maybe I'll check out Breed & Co. or possibly TreeHouse to see if they have some.
If I ever do my dresser drawers, I'll try to remember to write a Part II on this subject.
Do you have any wooden drawers in your house (or at work or elsewhere)? Do they stick, make noise when you open or close them, or make sawdust? Are you a long-time expert who wants to give me and my other readers additional advice?