Soft Close Drawers Video
Have you ever heard of soft close drawers? I had my first experience with soft close drawers this past week and, it seems odd to say, but they are pretty cool. Soft close drawers have quickly become a very popular addition to many kitchen and bathroom drawers and even cabinets. I recorded a quick demonstration so you can see how they function.
How Soft Close Drawers Work
Soft close drawers have a spring mechanism embedded in the drawer runners. After the drawer reaches a certain point on the runner, the spring acts to slowly pull the drawer closed. Even if you slam the drawer, a shock absorber slows the momentum of the drawer, causing it to close in a smooth, quiet fashion.
Problems with Soft Close Drawers
People joke that the only problem with soft close drawers is that you become accustomed to them and start slamming all other drawers. But, there seems to be one other complaint. Some soft close drawers do not close well unless you put some force behind it. This is could be caused by unlevel drawer runners that encourage the drawer to remain open.
What do you think? Do you have soft close drawers? Do you like them?
Comments & Conversation on this Article...
6 Responses to Soft Close Drawers Video
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January 6th, 2009 8:01 am
I’ve used these ball bearing slides form a company called sugatsune here in england which are really solid, which you mount on the side of the drawer. Love the way they close! Going to try the push to open slides next time, figure they’lll be better for a drawer you open all the time like a cutlery drawer.
January 6th, 2009 3:41 pm
I like the video but I’d love to see a detailed project on installing them for an existing kitchen. Cost? Time? Difficulty? What’s the frequency, Kenneth?
-Jon
January 6th, 2009 9:27 pm
@Jon, I agree. Seems like these could be a fun upgrade. Anyone from BlumMotion out there?
January 6th, 2009 10:41 pm
the trim carpenter has installed self/soft closing glides on the drawers on my new cabinets. I have to push them very hard to get them to the point of self closing and then most of them do not close all of the way. They also make a lot of noise when they slide. We are still working on a solution.
February 7th, 2010 12:52 pm
The reason the slides are noisy is probably due to the mounting location of the slide relative to the drawer box, use washers (1/16″ thick or so) until the slide doesn’t rub on the box.
Regarding the ‘wont close all the way’ problem, try moving the ‘locking mechanism’ thats mounted to the underside of the box forward a little bit, that worked for me
May 3rd, 2010 8:35 pm
Soft close is wonderful and push to open is great. However, it is hard to find any slide with both features.
Now, you can see world first “all mechanic driven” slide serving both push to open and soft close from King Slide. It was just golden awarded at KBIS 2010.
Here is link. http://www.kingslide.com