Do you have an old dresser that drives you nuts everytime you go to open it? When you are in a rush and your hands are full and you try to pull it open with one hand? Old wooden drawers will start to stick over time due to humidity in the wood or the loosening of the structure after repeated humidity and dryness expands and contracts the whole. If you continue to force drawers that are sticking you can cause even more damage to the frame.
By taking a regular bar of soap and rubbing it underneath on the rail of the drawer you will restore it to easy opening and closing (hard soap works better than soft). Wherever the moving wood touches is where you want the soap. You will also find that rubbing soap in the joints of squeaky wood furniture (such as a bedframe) will eliminate creaks and squeaks there as well. MGR
You can use candle wax (beeswax or paraffin) as well.
Yes, Mark (above) has the right idea. Soap can have harsh chemicals that may harm the wood overtime, but a pure wax candle will do the job without damaging the wood. In theory, it will also last longer as it is a more stable compound.
Low friction tape might work too, and it might help on worn areas too.
Leevalley.com carries some.
We've used paraffin on our 90 year old built-ins and it works wonderfully. If you want to freshen up an old wooden dresser that is a "bit" musty inside of the drawers, try a little vodka (just enough to wet the paper towel or soft cloth) and gently wipe it over the wood inside of the drawer, underneath and in the back. Don't wet down the wood! The alcohol in the vodka is supposed to kill any moldy spores in the drawer but not leave a medicinal smell behind (as rubbing alcohol might). Then mix a martini for yourself. :)
Don't forget graphite from your local hardware store...not sure if a pencil will provide enough.
i just faced this problem last night, and I used bicycle dry lube (it's wax based) and it worked like a charm.
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