Have you ever found yourself frustrated with the drawers in your old wooden furniture? Are you tired of dragging them open, then fighting the old wooden runners as you close them back up again? Ever wondered if there’s a way to deal with sticky wooden drawers?
Me too! Here’s what I discovered.
My Old, Wooden Bureau
Several years ago, I was given an old bureau. I really loved the piece, thought it had lots of potential and planned to give it a coat of chalk paint, one day.
There was just one problem: it’s drawers stuck something terrible! After battling it every day for 4 years, I finally decided it was time to either fix the problem, or get rid of the set altogether!
I’ve never loved the idea of throwing things out just because they aren’t in perfect working order. When it came to this old bureau, I wanted to find a way to deal with it’s sticky, wooden drawers!
A Light Beeswax Coating
Somewhere, I’d once heard that beeswax was good for making wood “slippery.” We harvested quite a bit from the honeybees last year, and I’d tried my hand at melting, filtering and molding the unrefined wax. I had more than a few bars on hand. Why not give it a try?
I admit I was skeptical. But with a bar in hand and an overturned drawer in my lap, I began waxing the runners, giving each about a dozen passes. The wood felt stickier than ever!
After wiping the old track free of accumulated dust, I gently fitted the drawer back into the bureau. Wanna know something?
It slid in like silk!
Amazing! I quickly applied wax to other two. Even when loaded down with shirts, jeans, socks and such, the drawers still slid smoothing, without catching! Finally, I can get at our clothes without yanking the set across the floor.
It worked!
An Old Drawer is Still An Old Drawer
Now, let me be clear: my old wooden drawers still don’t slide perfectly. Because they’re loose fitting, I still need to use both hands to draw them open, or they go lopsided in the their frames.
But I’m no longer fighting the wood-rubbing-on-wood problem! Today, my drawers are much easier (and quieter!) to open and close! I’m delighted to have found such a cheap and easy fix!
I’m most certainly going to give it a new coat of paint, because now, it’s worth keeping!
Get Yourself a Beeswax Bar!
Now, you also know of a way to deal with sticky wooden drawers! Go get yourself a small bar of unrefined beeswax and give it a try.
It takes very little to do the job! Your local beekeeper should carry varying sizes of unrefined beeswax bars. If not, your local health food store may have what you need.
It’ll be worth the 5 minutes this process takes!
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