Drawer Friction

[Tom Bender]

What lube do you recommend for wood on wood drawer slides? I applied car wax which worked for a while but it dried up.

[Doug Garson]

I have used vee shaped weather stripping on an old desk that has wood on wood drawer slides. In time (several years) the adhesive starts to fail and the weather stripping started to slide out the front but I just cut the protruding part off and it still works. You could staple it in place (the staple would be covered by one side of the vee) to avoid this . I think the stuff I used (decades ago) was vinyl but here's a link to some silicone weather stripping with the same profile that should work just as well.

https://www.amazon.ca/Weather-Stripping-Silicone-Window-Transparent/dp/B07XRX146J/ref=asc_df_B07XRX146J/?tag=googleshopc0c-20&linkCode=df0&hvadid=335511556995&hvpos=&hvnetw=g&hvrand=14931238520838994329&hvpone=&hvptwo=&hvqmt=&hvdev=c&hvdvcmdl=&hvlocint=&hvlocphy=9001501&hvtargid=pla-825116289256&th=1

[Lee Schierer]

Rub the sliding parts with paraffin. it will last a long time.

[Jamie Buxton]

I repair hundred-year-old built-ins with slick tape. It is UHMW tape 1/32” thick with peel-and-stick adhesive on the back. It is very slippery, and the thickness sometimes compensates for wear. Works great.

But maybe it won’t work in your situation. If you’ve already put wax on the runners, the tape’s adhesive may not stick well.

[Dwayne Watt]

Just hit them with another coat of paste wax (Johnson's or similar), not car wax. Ten years after the fact, I have a well used drawer that needs to be touched up with paste wax.

[Don Coffman]

I use paraffin exclusively.

[Bradley Gray]

Paraffin. Also good on saws, hand planes, chisels, screws...

[Ron Citerone]

Paraffin works good for me.

[Frederick Skelly]

Another vote for parafin.

[Andrew Seemann]

Paraffin, by way of candles or canning wax, is all I have ever used. I don't think I have ever had to re-wax a drawer. It also what I use on plane soles, machine tables, wood vise slides, etc.

[Edward Weber]

What lube do you recommend for wood on wood drawer slides? I applied car wax which worked for a while but it dried up.



What wood on what wood?
It may be too late to change but a close grain hardwood species works best. In my experience softwoods have more issues. Wax is traditional and does work well, there are also good products off the shelf like Slipit Sliding Compound

[michael langman]

I used a clear white candle on my kitchen drawers and that was 20 years ago. Still sliding smoothly. Must be paraffin wax.

[Derek Cohen]

Here in Oz we have a spray made by Selleys called “Ezy Glide”. Nulon make a “Ezi-Glide”. These are silicone sprays. They work well.

Regards from Perth

Derek

[Edwin Santos]

There is a wood on wood sliding lubricant called Slipit that was designed for your need.
Lee Valley sells it and so do other sources. Also works well as a rust inhibitor on metal surfaces, hand planes and the like.

[Rob Luter]

https://www.meijer.com/content/dam/meijer/product/0006/23/3800/97/0006233800972_0600.png

[Osvaldo Cristo]

Rub the sliding parts with paraffin. it will last a long time.

Exactly!

My mother used that all her long life. Previously her mother also used the same for a lifetime. It worked for decades old furniture even with heavy loaded drawers.

On the other hand, their furniture were made of hard wood, what means in our country very hard!

[Rich Engelhardt]

Roy Underhill used mutton tallow for wood to wood lubricant.

I bet it stinks.

I'd use PTFE grease on the bearing surfaces. A one ounce tube is a lifetime supply.

[Jim Dwight]

I use Johnson's or candle wax. The drawers I have issues with are typically twisted. Seems to happen during glueup sometimes. Lubrication helps but if they are flat, there isn't much need for lubrication.

[Mick Simon]

I also use the thin UHMW tape. Doesn't dry out, lasts longer than I will and is very quiet.