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When you have your first child, the world suddenly becomes a dangerous place. Everything from rough edges to slipping hazards becomes the worry of a concerning parent. Being the curious beings that they are, children have the tendency to open and close things to find out what’s inside (especially when your head is turned).
The thought of your children injuring themselves by slamming a bathroom cabinet door on their finger may be enough to have you wonder what you can do to prevent this problem. While child-safety locks work well when you want to keep young children out of your cabinets completely, soft close hinges work great for toddlers and children who have reached the coming of age. This allows them to become independent while saving them the painful “ouchies” that can be inflicted by a closing vanity door!
Soft Close Hinges
In case you haven’t had the chance to witness this ingenious invention, soft close hinges decelerate the speed at which your drawers and cabinet panels are closing so that they shut quietly. They can also eliminate cracking and chipping caused by doors hitting items at high impact. These new hinges have been developed to eliminate the unwanted “thud” that your drawers make when they are shut. Unlike soft close dampers, soft close hinges are attached to the fixed cabinet and the drawer/cabinet door. While dampers simply catch the momentum of a swinging door, soft close hinges have the ability to effectively slow the momentum of a door until it reaches a flush and closed position.
Soft Close Hinges on the 36″ Maronea Singe Vanity. See more.
Along with the benefits of noise reduction, many parents have found these hinges to be very effective at managing bathroom safety. This gives moms everywhere one less thing to worry about when supervising their children in the bathroom! You won’t have to worry about kids having vanity doors shutting on their hands or fingers because the soft close function will not prevent any harm. These creative new hinges are a great way to improve child safety standards around the house!
How to Install Soft Close Hinges
Soft close hinges can be installed very simply and without any additional drilling or fabrication needed. Unlike dampers that must be installed completely separate from the vanities standard hardware, soft close hinges can be directly installed into existing vanities within minutes! Add a touch of luxury to your bathroom with a new vanity that has the soft close feature to jazz up your home! You’ll no longer have to tip toe in your bathroom. Just give your cabinets a nudge and watch them close on their own!
Our exclusive collection from JWH Living includes soft close hinges on all vanities! More info.
How to Adjust Soft Close Hinges
Soft close hinges function using tension as the principle force used to close doors/cabinets. If your doors are closing too fast and slamming shut, this is because the tension in your hinges is too tight. On the contrary, vanity doors that do not close completely have hinges that are too loose.
Image via RCH Doors.Grab a Philips screw driver to adjust tension on your hinges. The recessed tension adjustment screw should receive a 1/4 turn and then be tested to see if this adjustment did the trick. Turn the screw clockwise to increase tension and turn the screw counter-clockwise to reduce hinge tension. Soft close hinges typically cost a few dollars and can introduce a cool new feature to your home while also adding additional safety benefits for your young children!
About this Post
Cheryl Khan is an interior designer and a contributing member to the Tradewinds Imports Blog. She enjoys writing about home decor, DIY projects, and home improvement ideas.
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