Finish or not to finish the inside of drawers?

Pete, this discussion has come up several times and the consensus seems to be about a 50:50 mix on finishing drawers. I am with the group that finish all surfaces but a number of others do not apply finish to the insides/sides of the drawers. So I guess that this is largely a personal decision in that there are no absolute right or wrongs here.

Here is one forum discussion on the topic.

-- Challenges are what make life interesting; overcoming them is what makes life meaningful- Joshua Marine

Repeated from other discussions:

“I have a house full of real antique furniture and none of my pieces have fully finished drawers.
I’ve done furniture restoration and repair for more than 40 years and it’s the same story.
Occasionally I’ll see a piece that has minimal finish on the inside of drawers, such as a little stain and shellac.

I generally use a little shellac to seal the unseen parts of any drawers that I make.
If I color the wood, I use a water-based dye not an oil-based stain.

Avoid multiple coats of finish, especially oil-based products.
It could make the drawers stick and the smell will linger for a long time.”

-- 温故知新

I would just do a coat of shelac, one pound cut. Just something to seal the wood. I poly’d drawers in one of my first pieces and regret it, dust nibs and all sorts of hard to reach corners. Gives me nightmares just thinking about it. (kidding)

Chris

-- -Director of slipshod craftsmanship and attention deficit woodworking

I have been around a long time and all the factory produced furniture I have seen is never finished inside the drawers.

-- Carl in SC

I always finish the inside of my drawers with two quick coats of dewaxed shellac and a quick coat of clear wax. I hate finishing as much as the next person but my thought is if you are going to spend all this time building your piece, finish it to the best of your ability. It really doesnt take much time and the end result is much nicer to the touch!

good luck

I’ve noticed that poly finish on one side of a piece of wood can cause cupping as moisture migrates more slowly through the finish than the ‘open’ wood grain, so that may be a consideration depending on your design.

The few dressers I’ve made did get finish on the drawers. Simply becasue I thought it was a waste of my time and material. Who looks inside drawers to see if they are finished or not anyways?

I asked this question last night of the instructor in a woodworking class I am taking at the local tech school. This guy has been in the cabinet and furniture making business for 30+ years.

His advice: Shoot the unstained draw boxes, dust frames, etc. with a coat of lacquer. He then waxes the wooden drawer slides so they slide easier.

—Gerry

-- Gerry -- "I don't plan to ever really grow up ... I'm just going to learn how to act in public!"

One thing worth considering, is the use of the drawers. If you plan to put things in them that can cause marks, stains, or spills, then it might help to seal the inside. I think many high production cabinet shops dont finish the inside simply because of time and cost. I have drawers in cabinets in my kitchen and bedroom that the kids put crayons and ink pens etc in and I wish they would have been sealed because its nearly impossible to get the stains and marks out. I also find its easier to dust and clean the insides of the drawers if they are sealed.

In my own shop, I tend to stain the inside of the drawers as well to match the outside, but thats just me :-)

-- Wayne - Plymouth MN

If you can find a non smelling poly, maybe ?
I look at it this way, a Home handyman or carpenter will finish the inside of drawers , a real cabinet maker won’t !

-- "My mission in life - make everyone smile !"

I guess I would have to say finish them because I always use pre-finished plywood for my drawers as I do for the inside of my cabinets

-- Measure twice and cut once.....

I am also getting ready to start a 2 twin bed room set and I will not finish the drawer innards. I just don’t see the point. I am not an experienced woodworker though so take that with a grain of salt.

-- "There are no gains without pains." -Benjamin Franklin

My great grandfather was a German cabinetmaker from the late 1800s. I have a number of his pieces in my home…they look like Ethan Allen furniture and the drawers are all finished on the inside. My grandfather was a Danish cabinetmaker and I have one of his pieces, and its stained on the inside, but no shellac, so some cabinetmakers from way back did finish them.

-- Wayne - Plymouth MN

I finish my drawers the same way I finish the cabinet. Two coats of poly and apply two coats of paste wax with #0000 steel wool.

-- Mc Bridge Cabinets, Iowa

If I’m restoring or rehabing, I go with whatever is already there (i.e. finished or unfinished). For new work, I use prefinished baltic birch ply. It saves me a ton of time since the drawers are ready to go as soon as I make them. On a kitchen last year, the drawers sat in the customers house for two weeks while the finish guy did his thing.

-- Adversity doesn't build character...................it reveals it.