Do I need to lubricate drawer slides to preserve the life of the furniture?
I finally bought a (flat pack) dresser recently. I love it, but when sliding the drawers in and out there is some minor sticking/resistance and some very slight misalignment. I am perfectly fine with this and actually kind of prefer it (it's nice that the cat can't open them), but I am wondering if over the long term, the resistance will damage the drawer slides in some way ? They're telescoping metal slides, on the side of each drawer, attached with tiny screws. I really like this thing and want to keep it in good shape as long as possible.
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@PotentiallyAnApricot depending on where you live, drawer slides are probably not going to be the first thing to go. But they'll be nicer with some lube. A nice option is graphite powder because it is dry - so dust and dirt won't stick. You can get it at many hardware stores. It is a little messy to apply, black dust. But once it is applied it will last a long time
The slides actually came with a little bit of grease on them so I did buy some extra grease (white lithium) In case I needed it, but I haven't done anything with it yet. Do dry lubricants play nicely with things that already have grease in them?
I asked a locksmith once and he told me to not mix it, ever.
Well then in that case I'm glad I asked you
@PotentiallyAnApricot well if you already have some "wet" grease, I would not go look for graphite. They will work together, but since there is already some wet grease there, a little more is just as good as adding something else, imho.
Maybe I'm overcomplicating but... I'm assuming I just dab some on and open and close it a few times?
@PotentiallyAnApricot yes, where one part disappears inside another, dab a little along the part that "disappears" - the grease will get spread out over time.
Correct. You can also use graphite for lubrication in high temperature environments, such as a stove. I use it to lubricate the sliding racks in my oven. Wet grease won’t work well here, so graphite is a great option.
No, don't put graphite on grease!
If there already is some grease, it will last for a loooong time.