Hacker help: How to remove Hemnes drawers?

Jules Yap·
Hackers Help
··23 Comments
Hemnes chest of drawers
Home
Hackers Help
hemnes drawer chest
Photo: IKEA.com

Materials: HEMNES 3 drawer chest

Description: HELP ME ! I’m moving and I’m trying to dismantle my Ikea bookcase. I can’t get or figure out how to get the drawers out of the slides, so I can dismantle the rest of the bookcase.

Thank you

~ Russ, Bristol, CT

Jules Yap
Latest posts by Jules Yap (see all)

23 Responses

  1. whoever made the point that the runners/gliders are fixed is a genius, as soon as I realised that I knew I had to detach the 2 screws, took seconds to do, get the damn plastic thing stuck down the back out and screwed back in all within minutes….I cant thank you guys enough!

    I have spent weeks, weeks!!!! looking at the bottom drawer of my alex drawer set wondering how I was ever going to get it to close properly again!

    thanks to all. literally life savers, I was going mad, now I feel like wonder woman!

    Reply

  3. I was having the same problem removing the drawers for the Hemnes TV unit (which I believe has different drawer runners to the Hemnes dresser, so the same solution won’t work for the dresser). I finally figured it out: there are two pins that attach the drawer to the runners (one for each runner). They are on the underside of the drawer, one on each side, near the drawer front. You just need to pull gently on the plastic tabs. After pulling these out the drawer separates from the runners and can be removed.

    Reply

  4. I have a used piece dresser, I believe it’s a Hemnes. I have been trying to get the drawers out for the last hour and googled if anyone knew how to get out the drawers but these answers don’t for the type of glides on mine. But if you are having the same problem I just figured it out. On the inside of the drawer there is 1 screw holding the glide on the to the side of the drawer. You have to remove those screws (left and right). This glide is not made to come apart!

    Reply

  5. My husband and I just fixed our Ikea dresser drawers that wouldn’t close fully and only opened about 2 inches. We turned the dresser upside down so that we could examine the bottom drawer track carefully. It turned out that the screws that hold the roller tracks to the sides of the drawers, weren’t screwed down tight enough. The screws on the metal tracks MUST be ABSOLUTELY FLUSH with the metal track. This is what blocks the complete movement on the track. The wheel won’t move past the screw that is sticking out ever so slightly. Once we discovered this, it took us about 10 minutes to fix all 3 drawers. Good luck! (. . . and use a power drill to make sure the screws are as tight as possible).

    Reply

  6. I had the problem where the drawer stuck… all you have to do is somehow get the draw front off… then the screen that holds the “track” to the sides of the drawer… the screw’s head needs to be INSIDE the drawer, not in the track… if its in the track… it will catch and cause you to do some effort on the closing of the item…

    Reply

  7. This is so funny. I’m having the same problem. I need to disassemble the dresser (8 drawer) because I screwed up part of the frame (piece turned the wrong way). I can’t get the top left drawer out to save my life. It opens about 2 inches and then stops. Ugh!!! Why, IKEA?!?

    Reply

  8. I have the 6 drawer tall hemnes dresser. One of the smaller top drawers is stuck inside the dresser and only comes out about 2 inches. Have tried everything to get it out. It won’t budge. Can’t even take it apart enough to get it out will have to disassemble the whole thing. Help – need ideas on what else to do!

    Reply

    1. Amy, did you figure out how to remove the drawer? I have the eight drawer model and am having the exact same problem.

      Reply

  9. When I first aseembled my Hemnes 6 drawer tallboy I secured all joints and bases with selleys Platinum silicone (a stronger form of super glue but not as brittle, to allow a small amount of movement. An Australian product). If the Hemnes had a middle support structure (as it is a wider than normal tall boy) I wouldn’t have resorted to siliconing every joint and drawer. In the mean time what I did discover from the 2012 version of the 6 drawer Hemnes chest made in China and bought from Australia were the bases of the drawers (some kind of cheap ply or fortified cardboard) would crack if the drawers were half full. Now I have to work out a way to remove the bases (since I glued them and added a middle support structure to each drawer. If anyone could provide me with an adequate silicone glue remover so I can change the bases of my Hemnes Drawers I’d be most appreciative

    Reply

  10. I guess you have the soft-closing runners otherwise it would simply lift out. Open the drawer. Look underneath and at the front of the runner on the inside you see a little square tab (in the manual this has the word “Click” written next to it and you push it outwards). Pull this towards the inside of the drawer if you think it can’t go any further, apply a little more force and you will hear a click. You can now lift out the drawers.

    Reply

    1. Oh man, thank you! Couldn’t get the video to play so I started to read the comments. Wasn’t pushing hard enough for the click!can finally replace my leaking faucet!

      Reply

  11. I need to disassemble then reassemble my Hemnes drawers because they’re pulling apart. Anyone know how to do this?

    Reply

  12. I need help figuring out how to fix my screw up. I assembled the drawers incorrectly and now need to take them apart in order to assemble them correctly. Does anyone have any advice for dismanteling the drawers for the Hemnes dresser? I fear that if I try to remove the plastic nails that hold the dresser together it will create more of a problem making the holes too big when I try and reassemble. Another thought was to drill new holes to attach the roller track and attach a washer to make it hold tight. Any ideas?

    Reply

  13. Two different type of slide: one is a simple version (as noted in the reply on 20 March) – which are a simple slide-out, angle and lift. The other sort is more complicated – which I ahve been battling with; these have a ‘security’ lock on them that prevent easy removal (presumably to stop toddlers from being crushed by falling drawers!). I haven’t figured how to remove the slides from the drawers, so have just unscrewed the whole assembly – I’ll repost if I find a way to do it more gracefully!

    Reply

  14. You mean you’re just trying to remove the drawer from the frame? You just pull it out all the way and angle it downward, while lifting slightly up over the wheel and off the slide. However, to pull it out all the way, you may need to help it over a couple small stops, lifting up slightly to allow it to roll over these, while it rolls out. Does that make sense? Really, it’s far less complicated than you’re thinking it is. If you can’t get it at first, play with it a little, lifting and angling, and you’ll probably get it out fairly easily. However, usually the backs are nailed on, so it’s unlikely you can dismantle the frame. Instead, you could pack the drawers, take them out to load the frame, put them back into frame in truck, do same upon arrival at destination. Good luck!

    Reply

  16. There may be a little tab to depress. It will be plastic, and located at the end of the slide. I assembled a few Hemnes dressers for a friend several years ago and that’s how I recall them working.

    Reply

  17. simply pull it completely out and lift the drawer front upwards. You should now be able to pull them out

    Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

This site uses Akismet to reduce spam. Learn how your comment data is processed.

© COPYRIGHT 2022 IKEAHACKERS.NET | IKEA® is a registered trademark of Inter-IKEA Systems B.V.
IKEAhackers.net is a fan-run website and is NOT related to IKEA®, IKEA.com or the IKEA Group.
Any and all links to IKEA.com are presented for reader convenience only and
do not imply IKEA's approval of this website and/or the modification of its products.
IKEA® and IKEAhackers.net are not liable for any product failure, injury or damage
resulting from the application of hacks featured on this site.