How many times have I cringed as my kitchen cabinet doors slammed shut behind me? More times than I can count. I loved my old vintage cabinets, but I couldn’t stand the doors slamming, and I knew I had to do something about it.
From my research, I discovered that many options were available to solve my problem, some of which included replacing my hinges with soft-close hinges or placing rubber or felt bumpers on my doors. But replacing the hinges on my cabinet doors would mean a lot of time and money, and the bumpers would fall off; therefore, I opted for another option I found: the soft-close damper.
The soft-close damper is so simple. All you do is screw the damper onto the inside of your cabinet on the hinge side and voila—a quiet closing cabinet door. The way it works is very simple. When the closing door hits the damper, the damper slows the momentum of the door and causes the cabinet door to close softly and quietly. No more headaches.
When looking at dampers, there were many options to choose from. For instance, some dampers had square, flat tips, some had round, flat tips, and some had rounded tips. The damper I picked, the Blumotion damper, had a rounded tip which made for smoother closing.
Also, some dampers had spacers. Depending on your project, you may not need a spacer. I choose the damper with a spacer just to be on the safe side. Choosing a damper with a spacer relieved some of the pressure from the hinge and helped the cabinet door close evenly.
Dampers can also be fluid closing or spring closing. I made sure the Blumotion damper had fluid closing for the smoother close.
One more thing to look for is to make sure the damper you choose can go with the hinge location you have. Are your hinges on the inside of your cabinet or on the outside? The Blumotion damper works with either hinge, but some dampers only work if your hinge is on the inside.
Although dampers are cheaper than hinges, the price for damper can range $1.80 for a cheap one to $7 for a nice one. I was lucky and found Blumotion dampers in an affordable mid-price range at Custom Service Hardware, and the purchase was well worth my money.
And if you are worried that your kitchen cabinet doors are too heavy or too light, don’t be. Most dampers are adjustable. So, whether your cabinet doors are heavy or light, the damper can be adjusted to ensure that any cabinet door closes both lightly and completely.
So, problem solved. I fixed my slamming cabinet doors, and the whole process was much easier than I thought it would be. If you are suffering from slamming cabinet doors, try a soft-close damper. They really do work.