I love purchasing vintage furniture for my home whenever possible. Not only can it often be a money-saving strategy, but it’s also a great way to pick up really high-quality wood pieces that you can be confident will last — after all, they’ve already made it this far! Plus, vintage furniture often has a lot of built-in charm that just makes me happy when I look at it in my home. (Truly the best reason of all for buying, if I’m honest.)
But vintage furniture can sometimes show its age with nicks, dings, and wobbles. One of the more annoying parts of vintage furniture? Sticky drawers. Thankfully, there’s an easy fix, and you already have it on hand: You can use a candle to help your drawers glide more smoothly.
Here’s how it works: Vintage furniture from the 1950s and earlier will usually have drawers that settle into wood tracks, rather than the metal that’s often used in contemporary furniture. Over time, the wood rail on the bottom of drawers and the wood track in which that rail sits can get a little roughed up, causing friction that can lead to sticking. You might not notice it at first, but once you start having to give a big heave every time you close your dresser drawer, it can get pretty darn annoying. That’s where the candle wax comes in.
This project takes just a couple of minutes. First, pull out the offending (and offensive) drawer, and dump out the contents. When it’s upside down, rub a paraffin or beeswax candle onto the slide on the bottom of the drawer and the track that’s inside the dresser. Then, put the drawer back in place. That’s it!
This is a trick I picked up from my days editing at This Old House magazine, where seasoned contractor Tom Silva advised using wax to lubricate the sashes of antique windows. It works just as well on drawers that use the same wood-on-wood sliding mechanism and it’s been a go-to for me ever since.
If you don’t have a candle handy, bar soap can also be effective for adding a little bit of glide to those wood surfaces. When the drawer starts to feel sticky again, just pop it out and repeat this process. It will take you only a few minutes and you’ll be rewarded with smoother drawers instantly.