Forget Wax; Soap's What You Need For Sticky Drawers

Dear Mr. HandyPerson: We have a counter-height kitchen cabinet, the top drawer of which is for silverware and gets lots of daily use. The drawer used to slide freely, but lately it has been resistant. The plywood sides of the drawer slide on a wooden base. I have tried a little candle wax to lessen the friction, but it hasn't helped much. Do you know of a product that would provide a slippery contact between the two wood surfaces? - J.R., Des Moines

Dear J.R.: Yes, but Mr. HandyPerson wishes you had written him a bit sooner, before you used the candle wax to lubricate the drawer. He tried this once on a sticky wooden drawer in his own kitchen and lived to regret it. The wax eventually became a bit gummy, particularly in warm weather, and the drawer ended up being even more stubborn.

Mr. HP recommends that you remove the drawer and use a putty knife to scrape off as much wax as you can from the drawer sides and the wood on which the drawers slide (and wherever else you remember rubbing the wax).

Then, making sure you have good ventilation and are nowhere near a flame or a pilot light, use a clean rag slightly dampened with mineral spirits (often sold as "paint thinner") to dissolve and rub off any remaining wax residue. Allow all the surfaces rubbed with the mineral spirits to dry completely, which will take only a few minutes because it evaporates into the air quickly (thus the need for good ventilation - you don't want to be directly breathing the air into which it is evaporating).

When you're finished with the rag, allow it to air-dry outside before disposing of it or cleaning it with some water and laundry detergent for future use. Wear rubber gloves while handling the rag, as the mineral spirits can be harsh to the skin.

With most of the wax now removed and all surfaces dry, you can buy a can of spray silicone to use on the drawer edges and the wood surfaces on which they slide inside the cabinet. Or you can do what Mr. HP has done for many years with sticky drawers, stubborn double-hung windows and doors that rub the frame a little: Rub the sliding surfaces lightly with dry bar soap. Just about any brand will work, but avoid soaps that have a lot of moisturizers or oils in them. On his workbench, Mr. HP keeps a partly wrapped (but opened on one end) bar of Dial soap. In his portable toolbox, he has a bar of generic hotel soap to lubricate wood, plastic and even some metal surfaces on drawers, cabinets, doors and windows where things that are supposed to move or slide easily have gotten a bit stubborn.

This doesn't relate to your project necessarily, but an added bonus of using a bar of soap, aside from it being cheaper than a can of spray silicone, is that for slightly musty-smelling wood furniture, like an old dresser, you can choose a soap with a pleasant scent. This helps to mask the smells that wood can develop over the years from the items stored inside, or from having been kept in a basement or garage where the wood can absorb surrounding odors.

When challenged to deodorize a nice old wooden dresser or cabinet that has become smelly or has taken on the odor of mothballs, one of his least favorite smells, Mr. HP has been known to grate with a cheese grater a little nicely scented bar soap into the empty drawers or cabinet interiors, along with a generous sprinkling of baking soda and crumpled-up newspaper. He leaves it all in there a few weeks before vacuuming thoroughly.

This also works on old trunks and hard-sided suitcases. Mr. HP recently pulled a sturdy old suitcase out of a Dumpster near his home. After two weeks with some grated bar soap, baking soda and crumpled newspaper inside the closed case, the strong mothball and mildewy odor was completely eliminated. It is just the right size to hold his circular saw, extra blades, a few measuring tools and a long extension cord. And the price was right.

Getting back to your kitchen drawer, though, if it becomes sticky again, just rub a little more dry bar soap on the sliding surfaces.

Mr. HandyPerson wants to hear of home repair matters that are troubling you, interesting questions, funny experiences and useful tips you might want to share with other readers. Write to: Mr. HandyPerson, c/o Universal Press Syndicate, 4520 Main Street, Kansas City, Mo. 64111.