Finishing dresser drawer sides

[Jeremy Killingbeck]

Looking for some advice on finish the sides of my 6 chest dresser drawers. I am going to finish the front face with oil / urethane varnish like the rest of the dresser. But should I use that on the sides of the drawers also? The sides & back of the drawers do not have any stain on them & will be left unfinished to show off the dovetail drawers. The drawers will not have any mechanical slides, so the side of the drawer will be rubbing on the case. I thought about rubbing some Johnson Paste Wax on the sides of the drawers, but I did not know if that will leave a odor on the clothes stored in it. Any advice would be appreciated.

[Frank Drew]

Jeremy,

For wood on wood drawers, I'd just sand well and use a light waxing; if you don't want to wax the inside surfaces, you don't have to -- if you use an aromatic wood, say one of the cedars for the drawer bottoms, you wouldn't want to put any finish over them.

[Josiah Bartlett]

If you are concerned about the smell, use a hard paraffin or caranuba wax and melt it into the sides using a heat gun instead of the solvent based paste wax. I like waxed drawer sides because they slide nicely. Other finishes tend to be sticky even if they are smooth.

[Ken Fitzgerald]

A lot of folks use shellac for the drawer sides and bottoms as it cures rapidly and leaves little odor.