Every July my kitchen drawers start sticking, and every July I spend a week yanking on them before I remember to actually fix the problem. Wood swells in humidity, and a swollen drawer fights its track every time.

The fix takes five minutes and uses stuff you already have in the house.

Lubricate the rails

The rubbing parts of a wooden drawer are the runners on the sides and the track it slides on. A dry, swollen wood-on-wood surface sticks. You just need to make it slippery.

• Candle wax: rub a plain white candle along the runners and the track
• Bar soap: works the same way, rub a dry bar on the contact points
• Silicone spray: best for metal or stubborn tracks, a light coat only

My go-to is the candle. It is dry, it does not get gummy like some sprays, and one candle lasts basically forever.

Where I went wrong

Do not use cooking oil or WD-40. Oil soaks into the wood, attracts dust, and eventually makes the drawer stick worse than before. You want something dry and solid like wax or soap that just sits on the surface.

If a drawer is genuinely jammed shut, do not force it. The wood will be at its biggest when it is humid. Wait for a dry day, open it, then do the wax trick and maybe shave down a proud edge with sandpaper if it is tight.