We have quite a few pieces of antique furniture in our house and that includes a couple of really nice dressers. This one in particular needs a bit of love, but it’s about 120 years old, and I’ve been using it for the last 34 years-ish, so I’d say it’s hanging in there pretty well. 🙂 It’s funny because I’ve always known about this trick for dealing with stubborn, sticky drawers, but for some reason, we just kept fussing with the drawers for years, pushing and pulling them back and forth every time we tried to open them to get them to go back in place properly. I finally added this teeny tiny, 2 minute task to my to-do list a few weeks ago on another dresser and of course, BAM, it worked like a charm. Dresser drawer problems solved! If you have sticky, fussy drawers on some of your antique dressers, here’s how to fix that!
First, start with a dresser that’s slowly driving you just a little bit crazy. Like I said, this dresser needs a bit of attention, but with the drawers now unstuck, at least it’s perfectly functional! Except for that broken handle that I need to fix!
… and the same goes for this corner of the room. 🙂 You can see we ripped the old baseboard heater off the wall when we installed the new flooring in here recently and we haven’t re-painted or put the new trim in yet. Oh, and you can see the reflection of the bare drywall on the other side of the room too. But it’s functional!
Anyway.
Next, grab a candle. Make sure it’s one that you aren’t too in love with. Bonus points if it’s a scented candle.
Pull out each sticky drawer, one by one and rub the side of the candle onto the bottom edges of the drawer, the parts that make contact with the dresser when you’re sliding the drawer in or out. You’ll probably want to get the bottom as well as the sides of the drawer if your drawer fits into your dresser really tightly.
If you don’t want to scratch up the sides of your candle, try using the wax from the bottom rather than the side. You’ll probably still get a few marks, but they won’t be quite so noticeable. I just used the side because it seemed like I would get the best wax distribution that way.
Slide your drawers back into place.
You’re done!
If you used a scented candle, your room will also smell nice and fresh for the next few days! Fun!
The wax from the candle coats the drawers and allows them to glide without friction really effectively. It’s amazing how often in life it turns out that the best solutions are the simplest!
If you have sticky drawers, do yourself a favor and try this trick out right away!
MORE USEFUL TRICKS LIKE THIS
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- The Laundry Basket in the Trunk Trick
- The Butter in the Glass Trick
- The Lemon in the Jar Trick
- How to Easily Sharpen Scissors
- The Trick for Figuring Out Weird Trim and Molding Angles
Courtenay Hartford is the author of creeklinehouse.com, a blog based on her adventures renovating a 120-year-old farmhouse in rural Ontario, Canada. On her blog, Courtenay shares interior design tips based on her own farmhouse and her work as founder and stylist of the interior photography firm Art & Spaces. She also writes about her farmhouse garden, plant-based recipes, family travel, and homekeeping best practices. Courtenay is the author of the book The Cleaning Ninja and has been featured in numerous magazines including Country Sampler Farmhouse Style, Better Homes and Gardens, Parents Magazine, Real Simple, and Our Homes.