How to Easily Remove Drawers from Furniture: A Quick Guide

You may have to remove the manual or auto drawers of a furniture dresser or a small lock-up at home. This can happen when you are cleaning at home. Removing drawers from their place is not easy in any way. If you do not have experience or technique in removing drawers, you can even ruin the entire furniture.

If you are going to remove the wood glide and free-rolling Drawer, you can tilt it at a suitable angle and pull its drawers out comfortably. Today here we will see how to manually remove various drawers.

Removing Drawers

There can be different ways to disconnect a drawer, depending on what type of drawer is adjustable inside the piece of furniture you have.

We will discuss the 4 most commonly used methods of removing a drawer. If you have simple furniture and it has simple drawers, it can be removed in these four ways:

Friction Disconnect

The easiest and most important way to remove drawers is the friction method. In this method, pull the drawer towards you from its place so that it can be separated from its unit.

Finally, while maintaining the balls attached to this slide, pull it outwards and keep the drawer under your control to prevent it from falling.

Remember: However, this method is not suitable for slides above 70-80 lbs.

Lever Disconnect

The lever method provides the most options for unlatching a drawer. In this method, move the spring-loaded lever on the inside of the slide up or down.

Levers naturally work as a logout or start-up feature in the disconnect, which works very well with pull-out trays in workstations.

Push-Latch Disconnect

A push-latch is a very reliable means of moving a drawer from one place to another. In this method, you only have to press a button that triggers a latch and disconnects the slide’s drawer, after which the drawer member of the slide is disconnected from the cabinet member.

Rail Disconnect

Disconnecting drawers through rails is a much easier and better method. In this method, all the slides connect and separate the rails of individual drawers, which allows them to be removed easily.

It also has the feature that it can work with or without a ledge to perform different moves on the slides.

How to Take Out Wood Glides and Free Rolling Drawers?

Method 01#

Step 01#

Let The Drawer Extend to Its Limit

Place the piece of furniture you want to remove the drawer from in front of you in a convenient location, and gently pull the drawer outwards. If the drawer handle is attached and working, grab it and start sliding it outwards gently until it stops working or stops moving.

If the drawer stops halfway or won’t move more, you may need to move the piece of furniture around a bit or even apply a little oil to the area to make it easier to move if it’s not working due to rust.

Some drawers have an end stop to prevent the drawer from fully extending or falling out. The stop in a free-rolling drawer is usually a small protrusion just in front of the inner track.

Remember: In wood glide drawers, sometimes the place where the drawer stops before the stopper is kept high so that it does not touch the full stop, and the furniture does not get damaged quickly. Therefore, let the drawer reach its final stop well so that you can know whether it can pass through its adhesive area or not.

Step 02#

Tilt the Front Side of the Furniture, Which is the Drawer, Downwards

To remove a drawer from its place, sometimes you have to move the back of the furniture up and down, after which the front parts of the track on its back edge move up and down slightly, which helps the drawer slide out easily.

Remember: Due to prolonged storage, you may need to shake the drawer by rocking it up and down to ease the movement of the drawer slides, but excessive shaking can also damage certain parts of the furniture.

Step 03#

Do Not Use Too Much Force to Pull the Drawer Straight Out.

When the drawer piece passes the stop, the drawer is pulled with less force by sliding it out of the track. But remember to do this delicately. Place the drawer on a flat, stable surface on one side only, and repeat this process for any additional drawers you want to remove.

Remember: If, despite all this effort, you are still having difficulty removing this drawer easily, it may be possible to remove this drawer in another way. It may be attached to levers or stabilizer screws.

Method 02#

Step 01#

Identify Track Leavers on Exterior Walls Lined With Drawers.

Often, there are levers attached to the sides or outside of drawers, which are used to move the drawers. These levers can be straight or curved to hold them in place. These levers also have the function of preventing the neutral movement of the drawer so that it does not jam due to excessive movement.

Remember: You need to be extra careful while doing this because when the drawer slides back and forth, fingers may get caught in it due to the overlapping tabs.

Step 02#

Apply The Same Type of Force To The Lever.

In this method, use the fingers of both your hands. Keep one hand up and support the other hand from the bottom of the drawer. Pull the drawer outwards with the help of the index finger or thumb of the other hand to gently separate the lever. Do not let go of the drawer during this time. The drawer may not come off the track due to the slackness of the lift.

Step 03#

In this method, always keep the levers slightly pressed downwards and try to pull them out. Without releasing both levers, pull the drawer out. When the drawer moves smoothly towards the sea, then its last rolling part ends, after which it should come out.

Remember: While performing this task, always place the piece of furniture on a flat surface so that the work can be completed comfortably.

Method 03#

Stabilizer Screw Test to Disassemble The Drawer

Step 01#

While Pulling Out The Drawer, Look For The Stabilizer Screw At The End.

To keep the drawers fixed, there are screws under the drawer slides, which prevent the slides from moving around from their position. These screws keep the slide slightly higher than their surfaces so that they maintain friction and freely move in its line.

But it may also be the case that some drawers have metal strips and no pages of any kind are attached to the end. You should check which one is which.

Step 02#

Use a Screwdriver According To The Size Of The Screws.

Loosen the screws on the drawers with a screwdriver of the right size, as these screws will not loosen with a small or large screwdriver and may become loose. To loosen the screws, turn the screwdriver clockwise.

Remember: If you don’t know what the stabilizer screw measurement is, most drawers use 2-inch cabinet screws. A Phillips screwdriver is required to remove these screws.

Step 03#

You Will Need To Lift The Catch Tabs To Separate The Drawer Sections.

Apply equal force to both drawer tabs so that the top half of the track separates from the bottom half, allowing the drawer to slide past the stop mechanism and open easily.

Step 04#

Leave The Drawer Free On Its Way.

When removing the drawer, keep it slightly away from the tracks, but do not release the catch tabs. Keep it straight as far as possible in its original direction, and try to prevent it from sticking to the other sides.

Remember: When you are working on multiple pieces of furniture and you start removing a lot of drawers, keep in mind that there are small numbers on the inside of each drawer on the right side that indicate which side of the drawer is on. If you understand this alignment, it becomes easier to put all of these drawers back in their proper and original places.

Method 04#

Apply the Anti-Tap Cables Method to Remove The Drawer.

Step 01#

Find The Cable Behind The Drawer By Pulling the Drawer Outward.

There is a small metal cable attached to the panel on the back of the drawer. This cable is used to prevent more than one drawer from being opened. Try to find this cable. This cable will only be found when you pull the drawer completely out.

Remember: You need to make sure that you have arrangements to handle the extra weight because the anti-tip cable tray can be made up of heavy pieces and can hold multiple drawers at the same time, which can cause it to lose its balance when opened.

Step 02#

Unscrew The Screws Fixing The Cable.

The design of anti-tip hardware can vary, as some drawers have one screw and some have two, but most often, one page is on the front and one on the back. Turn any screws that are on the front anti-clockwise and remove them when they are loose.

Remember: Remember that these screws are very small; keep them safe and store them in a completely clean place. Apart from this, any parts that come apart should be stored in a safe place.

Step 03#

Press The Tabs That Come Apart Easily to Separate Them.

Check the metal strips on both sides of the drawer. There may be a pair of adjustable tabs attached there. Press these pairs of tabs with equal force from both sides. When you apply equal force, it will disengage at the same time, and your drawer will separate freely.

Keep a firm grip on the edges of the drawer while doing this, and make sure that you have pushed the tabs in. Sometimes, they may not lock into place automatically. If this happens, you may have to continue pressing on them until the drawer is removed.