Do I need to lubricate drawer slides to preserve the life of the furniture?

PotentiallyAnApricot@beehaw.org to Do It Yourself@beehaw.org – 15 points –

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.

14

You are viewing a single comment

@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.