If you've ever gotten your fingers stuck in a closing drawer, then you'll want to know this: Soft-close drawer glides are here to save the day. They are affordable and easy to use and can make your kitchen a safer, quieter space. Expect to spend roughly an hour on this project, and make sure you're. We are in the process of having our cabinets installed. Our soft close full extension drawer are HORRIBLE! The drawers are extremely hard to open AND close. The drawers I have seen and tested with these options were extremely easy to open and I can just give it a slight push and they would close on. Shop our selection of Soft Close, Drawer Slides in the Hardware Department at The Home Depot.

Edit for 2014: this article is now nearly 4 years old, and nowadays there are soft-close kits by Blumotion and others that make this process much simpler and cheaper!

In this instructable I will teach you how to retrofit the Blumotion soft-close drawer system (from their TandemBox line) to almost any drawer! Most people prefer to retain a consistent appearance in their kitchen, so replacing the drawers entirely is out of the question (not to mention very expensive.) The Blumotion system is one of the best, however it only works with the corresponding drawer system from the same company... or so they thought :)

Tools you will need:
- drill
- bolt cutter
- small flat-head screwdriver
- small hacksaw (I used a coping saw)
- some bolts (small thread, M2.5 or 0.1' thread diameter)
- some screws
- ruler & pencil

Soft Close Cabinet Hardware

The only requirements for the existing drawer:
- approx 12mm (0.5') clearance on either the left or the right of the drawer (almost any rail system will have this)
- approx 9mm (0.35') clearance behind the drawer
The drawer can be made of wood or metal - doesn't matter.

Soft Closed Drawer Kits

Note about the small piston-type door buffers / dampers:
Before this project I attempted to use these to damp my drawers, but they didn't work well (drawers wouldn't self-close, or still slammed shut.) The Blumotion system with its long throw and spring+latch mechanism overcomes these issues. Thanks to adamazing for bringing this up in the comments.