Have a drawer that doesn't open and close smoothly? Remove the drawer and clean the wooden rails that support the drawer. Clean off any dust or dirt with a damp rag. Then, rub with a candle stub (over the wood rails) a thin layer of wax. The wax will help the drawer to glide smoothly once its back in place. Now you have a drawer that will glide in and out smoothly!
By dorothy wedenoja from New Creek, WV
This page contains the following solutions.
If you have a sticky drawer that doesn't want to open right, just take a white candle and drag over the gliders to make it slide in and out easier...
Here are the questions asked by community members. Read on to see the answers provided by the ThriftyFun community.
Anyone know how we can unjam a drawer? We've moved and had to wipe down some furniture with some bleach water due to allergies and we left it outside to air dry. We cannot get this drawer out? Others are fine just one is not!
I know there are lots of tips on the internet, but this lesser known hint might help: if possible, remove the back of the unit and then use a blow dryer on the sticky drawer. Might take a few sessions, but the fact that none of the other drawers got stuck means the situation is not hopeless! Good luck.
Humidity might be the problem, and a blow dryer might just work (even if from above and below the stuck drawer [if you can't remove the back]). However, cold often causes things to contract and might be another option. Can you set the unit itself in a cold room?
Perhaps remove drawers above and below to see if you can spot the source of the problem?
Try removing the drawers above and below the stuck drawer. Then place a mechanics lead light inside above or below the stuck drawer, and leave it on for several hours or even overnight, The heat from the light should dry out the wood enough to un-stick the drawer. When free, rub some wax -paraffin or candle, or even bar soap will work, on the edges and bottom runners of the drawer before putting it back in. If that doesn't work, if able to remove the back of the unit, use a hammer and block of scrap wood to tap on the back of the drawer bottom runners to free it. You might want to sand the drawer runners a bit and then coat with wax. Good luck and hope this helps.
Can you pull the drawer below it out? Sometimes if you gently giggle the drawer from below, it can be opened. If you cannot see the drawer from below, cold makes wood contract so if you are in a cold climate set it outside for 15 minutes on a dry day.
I have an old oak banker's desk with one stuck drawer on the bottom left, any suggestions?
The desk is in excellent shape, just this drawer will not open. I have tried everything I can think of.
By Emmy
Run a knife blade around the top sides and bottom to check for a latch. Sometimes they are well hidden. If you can turn the desk over you may see a latch or lock.
I posted before if there is a drawer on top take it out to see if there is something holding the bottom drawer in. then use the file to sand it down then use wax ton the runners or bottom of the drawer it might be that the runners need to be fixed.
Some desks used a latch for security. Opening another, specific drawer will release the latch, allowing you to open the bottom drawer.
My husband glued (wood glue) the track (like the one shown) which had come loose on the bottom of his dresser drawer (it's the one above the one I took out). He put it back into the dresser before it was completely dry. 8 years later, it still won't open.
Drawers are closed from each other. Any ideas? I think the only thing in it is t-shirts, but would like to sell dresser and who would want a dresser with a drawer that won't open?
Hopefully, you can remove the back of the dresser and gain access to the drawer from the back. I would remove all the drawers you can, take off the back, then turn over onto top of dresser. From there, you should be able to do some light tapping with a hammer to force the drawer slide free without damaging the drawer. If lucky, with the back off, if you need to, you can get the divider off that separates drawers from each other, to give you more access to all parts of the stuck drawer.
I would like some advice on how to unstick two drawers in a chimney cabinet (a built in cabinet of drawers, next to a chimney).
The drawers do "not" have knobs, although they have holes where knobs once resided! There is not access to them from the top or bottom. Any advice? I would love to know if there is anything in them and if possible, use them for storage once I get them open. Thank you.
By sasvermont
If you can find a long screw that fits the hole you can screw it in and pull. However you might not get an even pull. You can get two small screws, screw then in one on each side and use them as handles to pull out the drawer.
Have you tried sticking the hook end of a metal close hanger or an ice pick in the holes and then kinda pulling at an angle to open the drawers? I'd work with the top drawer first and then you'd have access to the second drawer.
Use a long nail or awl to put in the holes; ones that fit fairly snugly and that you can still remove later. then try pulling them open. Have you considered removing knobs from other cupboards or drawers temporarily and putting them in the holes?
Get an old fashioned bottle cap opener,useful for
opening coke or beer bottles,place the hook of the
opener under the drawer (hook up)gently pry along several places it will open do the lower drawer first . Never be without these openers great for opening vacuem sealed jars to Go for it
Try using the top of a wire hanger threaded into the holes for the knobs. You should be able to put one in each hole and, at the same time, pull it opened.
Get an old fashioned "molly bolt" from the hardware store - small enough diameter to feed through the hole, and long enough so you can unfold the "wings" inside the drawer. Then grab the "head" with pliers or vise grips and wiggle and pull... Good luck! Maybe there will be something FUN or valuable in the drawers?
If none of the other ideas work, how about trying a plunger to pull the drawer? You'd probably have to put it right in the middle. Good luck!
I have a very hard to open stuck drawer in my kitchen. I tried everything, but nothing seems to work. Any suggestions would help me.
Work a putty knife between the door and the frame. This will enable you to remove the item that is making the drawer stuck. Complete instructions are here www.hunker.com/
Try a little W-D 40 to loosen the track!
So is it stuck because of paint, or swelling, or is something jammed.
If it is a jam, I found if I can get to the underside of the drawer, and push up on it slightly while someone else gently pulls on it, I can shimmy the drawer open.
If it is paint (I once lived in an apartment where they painted the drawers and cabinets instead of putting up new). In the summer since there was no air conditioning and the kitchen got full sun, the drawers and cabinets got all sticky and tacky and everything stuck. For one drawer I had to take a nail file worked it into the metal groove to unstick the mess. Yes it chipped off the paint, but since it didn't cause cosmetic damage and it gave me a working drawer, I did not lose my security deposit.
If it is swelling, try putting a fan or a hair dryer on cool into the space to shrink the wood. This is the worst because wood swells and contracts with heat and humidity and you may just want to not use the drawer once you get it open if this is your problem (or shave the drawer down a little).
Hope you one of these methods is helpful.
Post back with an update.
This could be a problem with the rollers or the track. I had one drawer that I basically has to go under the drawer and remove the screws that held the track bar in place in order to get the drawer out. It was easy to remove these screws and once I did the draw was able to move again. You can replace them with little to no effort. I would suggest removing the track bar and replacing them.
If the drawer is just "stuck" and you can get it open about an inch or so you may be able to tap it on alternating sides as you try working it out of the slot.
Tap with a hammer in a forward motion on one side and then the other while stil trying to work it back and forth.
If it moves just a little each time it means it will probably work itself out..
The desk is a very old French provincial style. I took the drawers out to move it and when putting them back, one didn't go in correctly. Now it doesn't budge when I pull. There is nothing blocking from inside contents.
I can jiggle it up and down, but it does not pull out at all. Any suggestions out there I would be grateful.
Thanks and be safe!
Track is either bent or broken. Try lifting up and pulling at the same time to remove drawer. Once out look inside the frame to see what is out of alinement. If bent see if you can reshape(if made out of aluminum) and add a little oil for the track. It broken, replace!
It sounds like you have it stuck on the tracks on both side. You can try to remove the other two draws first on either side of the stuck drawer and take a flashlight to look inside. Hopefully there is not wood between each of the drawers to make it easier for you to work. You will need to try and empty out the contents of the draw to take a look at the hinges. You can try to spray a little WD40 down the side of the drawer to get some on the hinges if you have the rollers out of place. Older drawers a lot of times have a bracket on the bottom side of the drawer that slide into a center piece. If this is your case try to remote the screws from the inside of the draw to take off the drawer to make it easier to work on the bracket to get it unstuck.
I have a chest of drawers and the drawers do not come out all the way. There is something stuck behind a drawer and I'm unable to reach back far enough to get it out.
By ilovesophie from Laurel, MT
Sometimes I have been able to use something like a screw driver or the blade of a knife, sometimes use the handle of a long spoon and reach in to jiggle the jammed item loose. I usually manage to get the item worked loose.
Try using a wooden ruler and see if you can move whatever is making the drawer stick out of the way, so you can easily open it.
Empty the drawer then try. If that doesn't work, empty all the drawers and turn the chest on its side or upside down. Whatever it is should fall out. There is one last hope if those don't work. See if the back will come off the chest. That will do it for sure.
The top right desk drawer won't open. It looks like something is holding it from the back.
This usually happens if something is sticking up and preventing the drawer from closing. IF you can stick a ruler inside and smooth down whatever is stuck, usually you can get it open again.
A wire coat hanger can help you push down what is in the way if the drawer opening.
There is too much food in the bottom drawer and it's stuck and will not pull out. Any suggestions?
By Birney
Take the drawer above it out and remove the excess food. Then you can pull the bottom drawer out.
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I have a very old (over 100yrs) antique mahogany sideboard. Something has jammed inside one of the drawers and it won't open.
