How to fix sticky dresser drawers

When it comes to furniture quality, solid wood is some of the most well-made furniture on the market. But one of the drawbacks of solid wood furniture is that after time, environmental conditions often make it so that moving parts get creaky or hard to maneuver. Especially with antique furniture that has been around for many years – maybe even in many different environments, some adjustments are required to ensure you have perfectly functional furniture.

Dressers and desk drawers are most commonly where we see these problems occur because drawers create a good amount of friction when opening and closing. When they don’t smoothly slide open, it can be very annoying; but luckily there are some simple fixes that can cure your sticky drawers and get them sliding smoothly.

For the quickest solution, remove the drawers and rub paraffin wax on the edges that glide over one another. You can find paraffin wax in the canning section of your local grocery store. Or, use an old candle stick in a pinch. The wax solution should work well for dressers and desks that are lightly used.

For a more permanent solution, apply a nylon drawer slide tape to the contact edges. Woodworking stores or home improvement stores should carry these types of tape usually in half-inch by ten feet increments. The tape will not stick to surfaces that have been previously waxed or surfaces that are dirty, so start by lightly sanding the area and then remove the dust. Applying the tape is as easy as cutting it to size and peeling off the plastic to reveal the adhesive strip.

Be sure to give your drawers a few tries to make sure you’ve covered all of the contact surfaces.