My neighbor in Boise showed me a simple way to fix a sticking drawer that saved me buying new slides.

4 comments

4 Comments

Nice trick, but you almost never need new slides for a sticky drawer. Usually it's just old wax or grime on the runners. A bar of soap or some candle wax rubbed on the wood does the same job in two minutes. Those drawer slide kits are a solution looking for a problem most of the time.

king.eric1mo ago

Exactly, and @pat_stone is right about the soap trick being the first thing to try. It fixes most drawers because the real problem is just friction, not broken parts. People jump to replace things when a simple clean and wax would save them time and money.

blairc901mo ago

Totally agree. I've fixed so many drawers just by cleaning the gunk off the tracks and rubbing a candle on them. People see a DIY video and immediately buy new hardware, but most of the time the old parts are fine. It's just about reducing friction, not replacing everything.

the_jamie1mo ago

@pat_stone is mostly right but sometimes old slides are actually bent or worn out over time, then no amount of wax is gonna fix it. Still agree that cleaning and lube should always be step one before buying anything though.