To fix a drawer that falls out, you need to install a stop block at the rear of your wooden drawer or you can repair or replace the metal slides. All the materials you will need are a drill, screws, a block of wood, pencil, and a screwdriver.

Although most modern cabinets and dressers come with drawers that operate on steel or nylon rollers, there are those that still use the traditional wooden drawer runners. Regardless of the type of drawer slides, you can still fix your falling drawers. Read on for the simple techniques that can help you with this issue.

Fixing Wooden Drawer Tracks

Drawers on many old dressers, wall units, and cabinets run on wooden slides. Unfortunately, this low-tech system doesn’t have a mechanism that can stop drawers from falling. If your drawers run on wooden tracks, follow these steps to stop them from falling:

1. Remove the Drawer

Start by completely removing the drawer from the closet or dresser. Stand in front of your piece of furniture and pull the drawer with one hand on each side. If it gets stuck halfway, don’t force it. Instead, tap the sides of your drawer gently from left to right then pull it out. To ensure that the wooden sticking drawers open smoothly, you can use a special nylon tape or a little paraffin to lubricate the sticky surfaces.

2. Make a Drawer Stop Block

Purchase or cut a block of wood about 1.5-by-2-by-5 centimeters (½-by-¾-by-2 inches) long. Drill an off-center hole through the block of wood ¾-inches (2-centimeters) from one end. Make sure that the hole’s diameter is similar to that of the screw you’ll use later. Repeat the same procedure to make as many stop blocks for all drawers in your home.

3. Set the Stop Block

Determine where you want to install the wooden stop block and mark the spot with a pencil. Screw the wood block into the marked part at the drawer’s rear panel, with the block inside the drawer. Ensure that the pre-drilled hole is at the bottom of the block, and screw the block with a long screw, which can pass through it without sticking on the other side.

Allow about 1.5 centimeters (½-inch) of the upper part of the block to emerge above the drawer’s lip. Use your screwdriver to tighten the screw just enough to hold the block securely in place, but loose enough to rotate around the screw.

4. Insert Back the Drawer

Turn the block to a horizontal position to allow you to insert the drawer back. Ensure that no part of the block is protruding above the drawer’s panel. Then, partially slide back the drawer into the cabinet or dresser. Push it just far enough that the drawer catches on its rollers, but you still have enough room to stick your hand inside and access the block. Rotate the block of wood 90 degrees back to the vertical position and completely slide out the drawer.

5. Test Whether Your Stop Block Works

Once the stop block is in place, your drawer should stop when you pull it out. The block of wood will catch the cabinet’s frame and prevent the drawer from coming out. Repeat this procedure to fix all other falling drawers in your house.

Buy Premade Plastic or Metal Drawer Stops

Instead of making your own wooden drawer stop block, you can purchase a plastic drawer stop or premade metal stop block from a local hardware store or order from Amazon. However, remember to check where they will hit inside your furniture.

Fixing Metal Drawer Tracks

Metal glides are a common type of drawer slide, and it’s most likely that your furniture uses this technology. In most cases, loose screws in the running and broken metal glides are the main cause of falling drawers. To prevent your drawers from falling out, follow these steps:

1. Remove the Drawers

Stand in front of your furniture and gently slide the drawer open. In case it gets stuck halfway out, tap both sides of the drawer to release it. You can also rub some paraffin or apply nylon tape to the meeting parts of the drawer. Remember to remove all contents from the drawer.

2. Tighten the Screws

Use your screwdriver to tighten any loose screws in the runners of your drawer and the dresser or cabinet. If necessary, reach all the way to the back of the dresser to tighten the screws. You may also have to replace any skewed screws.

3. Replace Broken or Worn Out Slides

If your runners are worn out, broken or non-functional, you may want to replace them with new ones. Old or worn-out drawer hardware may be the cause of your collapsing drawers.

However, this is an easy fix, and all you have to do is to purchase a similar model, make, and length. Most likely, the runners on your cabinet won’t be damaged, which means you will only need to replace the slides on your drawer.  

To learn more on how to replace broken or worn out slides, watch this video:

4. Fit the Rollers Back

Use both hands to hold the drawer up. Tilt the front part of the drawer to an angle of 30 degrees and locate the small slots on the left and right side of the dresser runners. You will see small rollers on both ends of the metal runners. Carefully slide the rollers on the back of the drawer into the slots on your cabinet or dresser runners.

5. Slide the Drawer Back

Slant the drawer back to the runners until it enters the slots on your dresser. Once the drawer is on the same level as the runners on the furniture, ease the drawer back. If you experience any difficulties fitting the rollers back into the slots, gently wiggle the drawer back and forth until the rollers engage the tracks on your dresser, and then slide the drawer in.

Replace the Drawers

While standard drawers are designed to be durable, they are not built to take punishment. Therefore, if they’re slammed or forced, they can sag or even break. If they just come apart, you can glue them back together. However, if the sides of the drawer split or the dado break from the bottom, you will have to replace your drawer.

Bottom Line

Drawers play an essential role in our homes – they hold various items and allow easy access. However, you can yank them out if they don’t include a stopping mechanism or if they’re broken.

Pulling drawers out of your cabinet or dresser can be annoying and also hazardous. Therefore, it’s important to install a stop block and repair or replace the metal glides to prevent your drawers from falling out.

Armed with a drill, screws, a block of wood, a pencil, and a screwdriver, you can create your own stop block, or you can choose to purchase a plastic drawer block on Amazon or a nearby hardware store. The block of wood will act as a stop mechanism for drawers with wooden runners. On the other hand, if your drawers use metal tracks, you can tighten the screws to fix the falling runners or replace the runners altogether.

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To fix a sagging drawer bottom depends on the materials you have and how badly damaged the drawer bottom is. If broken or cracked, you can replace the bottom panel with thicker plywood. The other simpler solutions involve reinforcing the bottom with braces or using square wood moldings.

In this article, we’ll give you detailed step-by-step guidelines on how to repair your drawer bottom using four different methods. Luckily, these are not very complex carpentry jobs, so you can do it yourself and restore your drawer to normal function in no time.

1. Replace the Thin Bottom With a Thicker Plywood

This first method of fixing a sagging drawer bottom is probably the hardest of the three. Even so, it’s still not too complex, as you will soon see.

If the bottom panel of your drawer is cracked or outrightly broken, then this is your go-to solution since replacing the broken bottom is inevitable. You can also choose this method if you want a more sturdy bottom that will last longer and withstand the heavier drawer contents.

Let’s begin.

Disassemble the Drawer and Remove the Bottom

The first step in this method is separating the flimsy bottom from the drawer. This will require you to disassemble the whole drawer. If you are the one who put together the furniture after purchasing it, then disassembling it simply involves reversing that process.

Go step by step, dismantling the joins and putting the drawer apart one piece at a time. If you still can’t figure out how to do this, then follow the instructions that came with the furniture. Take out everything from the drawer, including the dowels and screws.  

Measure and Cut Out a New Bottom Panel

You can purchase a new bottom panel from the local hardware. Go for plywood that’s thicker than the original. ¼” sheets, for example, are a good size.

Lay down the plywood. Place the original bottom on top (aiming for a good corner) and race it out onto the plywood. Next, cut the plywood to create the replacement bottom.

Smoothen the Bottom Panel Using Sandpaper

To avoid ending up with splinters in your clothes or whatever contents you’ll put in the drawer, it’s advisable to smooth out the plywood’s surface using sandpaper.

You can easily purchase this online, for example, the 3M General Purpose Sandpaper Sheets. This sandpaper is easy to use and is particularly great for DIY projects, including woodworking, to be ideal for this venture. 

Widen the Dadoes

Widening the dadoes should be done very carefully and patiently to ensure you don’t take too much material from the grooves. You can use a table saw to do this. 

Make the dadoes wide enough to fit the new bottom without being too loose. Do this for the side pieces of the drawer, the back, and the front.

Reassemble the Drawer

Now that all the pieces are ready, you can now reassemble your drawer. The new bottom should fit snugly into the dado grooves.

If you knock on the plywood bottom, you can feel how more solid your improved drawer is. Now you can confidently store things in the drawer without worrying about it falling apart.

2. Use Braces to Hold the Bottom in Place

If you don’t want to replace the bottom of the drawer, you can use an alternative solution to fix sagging drawers.

The things you need to have are:

• Two metal corner braces per drawer
• A drill
• Screws
• A length of timber (for supporting the bottom)
• A saw.

Measure and Cut the Piece of Support Timber

Measure the width of the drawer. Cut out a similar length of the piece of timber and position it underneath the drawer bottom. This timber should not go beyond the lower part of the drawer; otherwise, you won’t be able to fit the drawer back in its place.

Secure the Timber Underneath the Drawer

If you are working alone, you’ll have to secure the supporting timber in place as you move to the next step. Use masking tape for a temporary hold. You can also glue the timber in place, as this will also help reinforce it.

Drill the Braces on the Inside of the Drawer

With the timber in position, place the two corner braces on the inside of the drawer directly above the timber on the two opposite ends. One efficient set of braces you can use is the BIG TEDDY Corner Brace. You can get this on Amazon. It’s double-wide compared to other braces, so it’ll provide added reinforcement for your drawer bottom.

Drill in the brace down into the timber beneath. For the front-facing screws, ensure their length matches the width of the front of the drawer to avoid screws popping outside to the front of the drawer.

Finish Up

Place your drawer back into its place. You can now put in your clothes and other contents.

This method can also be used if the drawer has sagged from the sides. You only need to add two other pieces of supporting timber underneath the bottom of the drawer but along the sides.

3. Reinforce With Square Wood Moldings

One of the reasons the bottom of the drawer pops out so easily is because the dado grooves along the sides, front, and back are so tiny. You can correct this by adding square wood moldings along the edges of the drawer bottom.

This method is going to reinforce the drawer bottom and reduce any chances of it coming off from the grooves of the drawer.

Here are the things you’ll need:

• Square wood molding
• Wood glue
• Hammer
• Saw
• Nails like brads
• Woodworking clamps (optional)

Measure and Cut the Square Moldings

Measure the length and width of the drawer and cut pieces of the square wood molding according to these lengths. Each of the moldings will be positioned on the respective side, front, or back of the drawer.

Glue the Square Moldings Underneath the Drawer

Position the drawer bottom back in place (push it into the grooves). If the edges are sagging too much and cannot stay in position, you can use the woodworking clamps for support.

Using the wood glue, glue every piece of square wood molding underneath the drawer. Leave them overnight to set.

Nail the Moldings in Place

Fasten the wood moldings in place by nailing them through to the sides. You can use brads but ensure they are of the correct length to prevent them from piercing through the sides, front, or back of the drawer.

Finish Up

Put your drawer back in its place. It’s now ready for use.

4. Get a Drawer Repair Kit

Fixing a sagging drawer bottom is not so complex. You can make it your next DIY project and work on all the faulty drawers in your home.

We’ve outlined three methods of fixing sagging drawers; replacing the thin and flimsy bottom with a more sturdy panel, using angle metal braces to hold the bottom in place, or reinforcing the drawer bottom using square wood moldings.

As a bonus, if your DIY skills are really poor, you can purchase a quick fix for your faulty drawers. The Fix a Drawer kit is a great solution that is reasonably priced and easy to install, so you don’t have to spend hours fixing furniture.

Here’s a video on how to use this kit:

The faster you fix any broken drawer bottom, the better since it will not worsen and destroy the furniture altogether.

Related: How to Fix a Drawer That Falls Out

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Before you start attending to your drawers, think about your clothes. Make sure to wash them with the right detergent and a softener with odor-eliminating properties. Washing your clothes properly before folding them is one of the best ways to fight unpleasant scents. However, sometimes all that simply won’t be enough, and you’ll need to take some additional steps.

Here’s my list of simple hacks on how to keep your clothes smelling fresh in drawers.

1. Keep Your Drawers Clean

If you are tired of the familiar musty smell, it’s time to take action. Remove everything from your drawers and take a closer look inside. You might see traces of dust, dirt, and even mold. On the other hand, the culprit for the pungent smell might be something invisible to the human eye. Either way, it wouldn’t hurt to give your drawers a nice scrubbing.

You’ll need a soft cloth, some antibacterial spray, warm water, and a drop of essential oil of your preference. While cleaning the drawers with the cloth, you’ll be adding the aroma of the essential oil. Make sure your cloth is not too wet, because excess moisture can easily damage the drawers’ surface.

2. Make Use of Essential Oils

Essential oils can do a whole lot for your laundry. As I already mentioned, adding a few drops when thoroughly cleaning the drawers leaves them smelling great for a long time, but there’s so much more you can do.

For example, add up to 30 drops of your favorite oil to your washer during the final rinse circle for a more permanent smell. You can even make a water solution with a few drops of oil and spray it directly on your dry clothing before folding it in.

3. Get Scented Drawer Liners

Drawer liners are generally practical and keep your drawers and your clothes in good shape, but did you know they can come in different aromas as well? These fragrant liners you may remember from your childhood are making a comeback, and for a good reason. They now come in different colors and patterns while keeping that old school vibe, and the best part is that any scent you choose will overpower the funky smell of damp drawers.

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Simply lay the liners on the sides and on the bottom of your drawers for a fresh laundry scent that will last for months. Many body care companies sell fragrant liners with the scent of their most popular products, so your clothes can smell like your favorite shower gel or body lotion, too.

4. Add Scented Pouches and Sachets

Sweet-scented pouches and sachets are extremely popular for a reason. You can use them anywhere and make your drawers, clothes, your car, or the entire room smell like heaven. Retailers offer a wide range of scents, from single-note fragrances to more complex aromas. They are easy to find, affordable, and any scent you choose is concentrated enough to last a very long time.

The best thing about them is that you can make your own scented pouch or sachet if you’re feeling extra creative. Use empty tea bags or drawstring bags, and let your imagination run wild. Stuff them with potpourri, dried herbs, or uncooked rice with a few added drops of your favorite fragrance oil. Tie them tightly with a ribbon, and place them in the corners of your drawers.

5. Repurpose Old Air Fresheners

Whether it’s a room or car freshener, it will work equally well in your drawers. You might think that old fresheners have lost all their scent, but moving them to a smaller space, like a drawer, will prove you wrong.

Newly opened fresheners have an overpowering scent, so make sure you use an older one. Tuck one away nicely in the back of each drawer for best results.

6. Coffee Grounds

If you’re a coffee addict, you are going to love this trick. As well as being a perfect pick-me-up, coffee is an excellent odor neutralizer. The nitrogen in the grounds helps eliminate bad smells, but coffee grounds smell pretty good on their own, too. The strong scent is enough to overpower and absorb funky smells.

Fill a tea bag or an old pair of tightly-knit socks with coffee grounds, and simply place them in your drawers. You’ll find that the bad smell is gone within a few hours. Make sure you replace the grounds monthly because the scent fades with time.

7. A Bar Of Soap

This trick may sound too easy to be true, but it’s proven to work. Go for heavily scented soap bars or those small gift soaps that usually have a really strong smell. Place the bar in your drawer, but make sure to leave the wrapper on or wrap it in a thin cloth. By doing so, you protect your clothes from the soap’s oils and overpowering scent.

Over time, the scent will fade away, but you can still use the soap for washing and cleaning. Never let a soap bar go to waste!

8. Baking Soda

Maybe you don’t want your clothes to smell of anything other than your favorite softener or detergent. If you are looking to retain the freshness of your laundry without adding aromas, consider using baking soda.

Open the box of baking soda and place it in the back of your drawer to keep it odor-free. Secure it in place to prevent spilling, as baking soda can damage materials such as wood.

9. Cat Litter

Cat litter is made from clay and is designed to absorb odors and kill bacteria. Whether you are a cat owner or not, kitty litter is an affordable and effective way to keep your drawers odor-free. You can go for unscented litter if you’d like to pass on perfume or a scented one that will give your laundry an extra kick.

Either way, fill a plastic container with the litter and place it in a drawer. Close it and poke a few holes in the lid to keep it from spilling. Replace the litter every month for best results.

10. Vinegar

Vinegar is a powerful deodorizer that you probably already have in your kitchen, and its odor-eliminating properties are well known. Add a tablespoon of white vinegar to your laundry conditioner to keep the bad smell away. Also, you can mix equal parts water and white vinegar and spray the solution on your clothes before folding them in your drawers.

Turn your clothes inside out to avoid discoloration, though. You can spray the insides of the drawers for even better results.

The Final Say

There are many ways to keep your laundry smelling fresh and clean. Most are inexpensive, simple, and easy to DIY. After washing your clothes thoroughly, give these tricks a try, and see what happens. The musty scent might be very persistent, but hopefully this handy guide will help you find the remedy that works best for you. You’ll see how easy it is to keep your clothes smelling fresh permanently.

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