How To Choose The Right Drawer Slide

Whether you’re refurbishing your kitchen or furnishing brand-new cabinetry, choosing the best under-mount soft-close drawer slide can seem like a really challenging task.

Well, one best way to avoid having a disheartening experience while shopping for one is to team up with a trusted and professional soft-close drawer walk you through the various things you must consider when choosing a drawer slide.

Choose the Drawer Slide Mount Type

The soft-close drawer slide is an excellent furniture piece but can come as a side-mount, center-mount, or undermount slides and so you may have to make a choice on which to go for. Again, the available space between your soft close drawer box and the cabinet opening is yet another factor that can influence your decision.

a. Side-mount slides

Side-mount slides are always sold out in duo or sets, with a slide attaching to each side of the drawer. The available space between the drawer slides and the sides of the cabinet opening is usually 1/2" and it is available with a ball-bearing or roller mechanism.

b. Center mount drawer slides

As the name implies, these are soft-close drawer slides for sale that come as single slides and mounted under the center of the soft-close drawer. They are available in typical wood version or with a ball-bearing mechanism. Required clearance depends on the thickness of the slides.

c. Undermount drawer slides 

These are ball-bearing slides usually sold in pairs and mounted to the sides of the cabinet with a locking device fitted to the underside of the drawer. The best under-mount soft-close drawer slide is not visible when the drawer is open, hence a good choice if you want to play up your cabinetry.

The required allowance between the drawer sides and the cabinet opening is usually 3/16" to 1/4" per side. The space at the top and bottom of the cabinet opening and the drawer sides is usually not more than 5/8" thick. The allowance from the underside of drawer bottom to the bottom of drawer sides must be 1/2".

Choose What Will Be The Drawer Slide Length

Except for special use (shorter ad longer slides), drawer slides most often than not come in sizes ranging from 10" to 28".

A typical measurement for side-mount and center-mount slides is usually the length from the front edge of the cabinet to the inside face of the cabinet back and then remove 1".

In the case of the under-mount slides, measure the drawer length. The slides must be equal in length to that of the soft-close drawer for proper functioning.

Decide What Will Be The Extension Level of the Drawer Slide

You can make a choice of how far out you want the soft-close drawer to come when open.

With a 3/4 extension, part of the drawer remains in the cabinet. This is desirable economically when full access isn’t really demanded.

Another kind is the full extension which allows the soft-close drawer to open the complete length of the slide thereby giving you greater access.

Overtravel drawer extension allows you to open the drawer well beyond the full extension, providing complete access even the underneath countertops is revealed.

Consider The Weight Rating of Your Drawer

Soft close drawer slides for sale have weight rate ranging from 75-150 pounds, though some have lesser weight while some specially made slides can take as much as 220 pounds.  Weight rating is especially important when selecting slides for heavyweight applications such as file drawers.

Consider The Finishing

The finishing is one of the features you will like to know. Are you looking for a unique and specific color? Generally, most slides have a zinc finish. Centerline Lifetime Series 757 also available in black (great for entertainment centers). We have the white or brown Blum Self Closing Epoxy Roller slides.

Conclusion

Your kitchen and bedroom drawers should be given the best look when it comes to selecting the right drawer slides that will perfectly satisfy your desire for superior quality.

However, while pondering on this, understand that you need a reliable and professional soft-close drawer manufacturer for a hitch-free shopping exp