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olivertwistkitchen

Tilt-out Drawer Question at sink

olivertwistkitchen
10 years ago

Hi,
The plastic thingies in our tilt-out drawer at the sink are screwed into the wood. They cannot be removed. When I originally planned for this tilt-out drawer, I was hoping that as they got gronky, I could remove the plastic insert and wash it in the sink or dishwasher. But they cannot be removed. Is there an additional insert I can put INTO the plastic thingie that I could then remove? Yes, I know I could just wipe it out with a sponge like my GC told me, but everyone knows when it gets really gross it would be better to wash in the sink or dishwasher. In the pic you see one, but there are actually 2 side-by-side.

Any ideas? Thanks.

Comments (28)

  • kirkhall
    10 years ago

    On mine, they appear screwed in, but in reality, the screw holes are not just round... they are key-hole shape so that you can slide the tray to one side, then lift it out over the screws. If your screws were loosened just a little, will yours slide too?

  • springplanter
    10 years ago

    kirkhall, that sounds like a good idea. What brand are yours?

  • olivertwistkitchen
    Original Author
    10 years ago

    No, I actually went over it with the GC today. Yes, we do have the key-hole shaped holes, but he ended up having to drill additional holes in both of them and screw them right into the wood. So they really are stuck in there.

  • jakuvall
    10 years ago

    He put the screws for the hardware through them. Remove those screws, take out tray, drill a countersink for hardware screw heads- use angle attachment on drill to get in there.
    OR remove drawer head to drill counterbore.
    The difficulty of boring the countersink with drawer head in place is why they did what they did.

  • olivertwistkitchen
    Original Author
    10 years ago

    Jakuvall, sorry, that all sounds too technical for me.
    Isn't there some rubbery or plastic thing I could just stick inside?

  • Vertise
    10 years ago

    Can you pop out a regular wood panel at the sink and make it tilt?

  • juliet11
    10 years ago

    It looks like the installer put the plastic trays in first and then installed your handles. When we had ours installed, they attached the handles first and then put the trays on. They didn't countersink the screws, but they don't stick out much and the trays seem fine. If you took out the handles, removed the trays, put the handles back on and then put the trays on top, that would be the same as mine were installed. However, you will have holes in your trays, so moisture could get through. Maybe your installer has new trays he could give you since he installed the first ones wrong?

  • maid_o_cliff
    10 years ago

    Do you actually use your tilt outs?

    Red

  • olivertwistkitchen
    Original Author
    10 years ago

    I just got them this week, so I would like to use them. That was indeed the plan.

  • cheryleb
    10 years ago

    I just put one in and got stainless steel for the same reason you have. I find that plastic can stain and get grungy. I got one that is 30" wide instead of two.

  • a2gemini
    10 years ago

    Ours is buy the cooktop and it was added after the fact - and can be removed. Hope you figure out a way to remove it (our is SS)

  • gwlolo
    10 years ago

    Cn someone recommend an aftermarket one? Stainless sounds good. I have a drawer face but no tilt out.

  • akcorcoran
    10 years ago

    Hi!

    I'd love to know any suggestions for this as well - some sort of liner. We have the stainless ones that came built in with our new cabinets (but in actuality are Rev-a-Shelf so you can get them aftermarket, @GWlolo) - and while they may look swanky, they really don't look good with spots and marks on it from - basically anything.

    To emphasize that even more, I had this clever idea to use them in our bathrooms at the sink for our toothbrush and toothpaste. It is SO handy (especially because hubby and I don't have medicine cabinets, just decorative mirrors,) and I don't like anything on the counter if I can help it! That said, that really needs a liner!

    Hope someone can provide any idea! I keep looking at Ikea or for some sort of container I could drop in. :-)

  • caitlinmagner
    10 years ago

    have you checked rev-a-shelf? They seem to have all sorts of inserts.

    My house came with one of those tilt outs and I never use it because of the grime factor.

  • olivertwistkitchen
    Original Author
    10 years ago

    Yes, these are rev-a-shelf. I called them and asked if there was an additional insert and they said no.

    I looked again with DH. It looks like the extra 2 screws are indeed from the drawer handle hardware. I asked if we should take off the handles and put them UNDER the caddy, but DH said the screws would prevent the caddy from lying flat. So I think I'm stuck using it as is.

  • akcorcoran
    10 years ago

    Hi -

    I'm back - I haven't actually figured this out yet but raehelen suggested some containers for me for bathroom storage that have a silicone insert - one of which is a long shape that *might* work in a tilt out dray? Either one on each side or a wider one kind of curve/tucked in the back?
    I put in the photo of the cutlery divider but see the little silicone mats inside it? Removable and washable?

    Downside is that I don't think they sell them separately but I thought I'd pass it on. I'll let you know if I try them...

    Alexa

    Here is a link that might be useful: Madesmart Containers

  • laughablemoments
    10 years ago

    I don't know of any specific liners, but I have a few suggestions for helping the trays to stay cleaner:

    1. I used to have a terrible time keeping our shower caulking from getting moldy. It was a nasty embarrassment. Someone recommended spraying it daily with Fantastik after we finished showering. I've not had any issues with mold in there in the 6 weeks or so since I started the daily spray routine. I wonder if this would work just as well for your trays?

    Note that it does have a slightly bleachy smell, so if you are sensitive to chemical odors it might not work for you.

    I'm willing to put up with a little bleachy smell for a sparkly shower. : )

    2. Would it work to cut a few liners out of microfiber dish-draining mats and place them in the bottom of the trays? This would help soak up the drips and you could swap them out and wash them when they started to get dirty. You might need to run the cut edge through a sewing machine on a zig-zag stitch or through a serger if you have one. (I don't know, though, since I've never cut one of those mats open.)

    Here is a link that might be useful: Fantastik all purpose cleaner with bleach

  • cevamal
    10 years ago

    Hope this isn't too late to be of use, but I'd take it off and re-drill the added holes to make them keyholes too.

    Try to look past my incredible primitive sketch in Skitch, but the blue dots are where the extra holes are drilled and the green keyholes show what you want to drill out. I'd just use a drill bit slightly larger than the screw head for the large part and drill a couple of times with a smaller bit to make the rest of the keyhole.

    Or you could just drill a larger hole over what would be the entire keyhole area.

    The downside to these approaches would be that liquid could get through to the cabinet. Depending on how often you plan to take it off and wash it you could just put a piece of packing tape over those holes.

  • olivertwistkitchen
    Original Author
    10 years ago

    Turns out the handles on the other side of the drawer are going through it to anchor them in, so I'm stuck with it screwed into the wood. So far I'm just wiping it out when it looks gross, and washing the sponges when I remember.

  • annkh_nd
    10 years ago

    Olivertwist, I think Cevamal is on the right track. I don't think you need to make a keyhole - just drill the holes out a little bigger than the size of the screw. That way, the caddy will still lie flat, but you should be able to lift it over the heads of those screws to remove it.

    Here's what I would do:
    - Unscrew the handle
    - carefully enlarge the size of the holes
    - screw the handle back in
    - put the caddy back in

  • olivertwistkitchen
    Original Author
    10 years ago

    No, the handles from the other side HAVE to go through the tray, is what the contractor told me. The screws or something on the hardware must be long, and the wood wasn't thick enough to anchor them, so that's why he drilled them through the plastic caddy.

  • raee_gw zone 5b-6a Ohio
    10 years ago

    So, Cevamals' solution will still work I think. The screw heads will still be sticking into the inside of the caddy. You can get a rubber washer to sit just under the screw head to absorb and stabilize that extra screw length, and also make a seal when the caddy is in place. Make the hole in the caddy larger enough to allow the caddy to fit over both the screw head and the washer. Washers come in all sorts of sizes, you can find one that is just right.

    Your contractor just didn't bother getting the proper length screws for your piece. The screws that come with fixtures aren't always the correct length for the cabinet construction.
    I, on the other hand, unknowingly bought handles that came without any screws. So I had to go the hardware store to get the proper size and length.

  • annkh_nd
    10 years ago

    Oliver, I'm curious - if your contractor needed the plastic insert to make the screws the correct length on the sink tip-out, how did he get the rest of the handles in the kitchen to work?

  • olivertwistkitchen
    Original Author
    10 years ago

    Good question... No idea. I gave up trying to figure this one out!

  • sunsoleil
    10 years ago

    Different screw lengths are used for cabinet doors and drawer pulls. The screws for the drawer pull has to be longer because it goes through the drawer front and the frame. The pull-down does not have a drawer front attached to it and needs the shorter screw. I just replaced my pulls and had a similar arrangement to OP. Just take the pull off, get a screw that is about 1/4 inch shorter, and replace the pull. Then you can use the outer screws to secure the plastic and you can remove as needed because of the keyholes. Because it is plastic, you won't need to countersink the holes for the pulls. The plastic will fall right over the rounded screw heads.

  • dilly_ny
    10 years ago

    I would line it with foil and change it once a week

  • Marie Tulin
    10 years ago

    line it with a paper towel and change it every other day.

  • westsider40
    10 years ago

    I love my tilt outs and just wipe them out, as needed. It is not a big deal to me.