Clear Rubber Strips to Help Shelves Grip to Cabinet Walls?

[W]

Does anyone make a clear rubber strip that can be pressed onto the sides of a cabinet shelf to help it get a tighter friction fit to the side of a cabinet? I had a custom cabinet made, and the shelves are removable. Unfortunately, they are loose enough that just pulling on them a little removes them from the cabinet. I want to get a tighter fit against the side of the cabinet without forcing the shelves to be remade.

I am assuming that the same type of rubber stripping could be set onto the front top surface of each shelf, to prevent items from falling out of the shelf easily.

[Swingman]

What kind of bracket are the shelves sitting on? Simply wrapping a small rubber band around each one will probably give you enough friction to stop them pulling out, or ...

If the brackets are something that can lend itself to having a hole drilled to accept a small screw from underneath, that would be a more permanent solution, but one easily undone for adjustment.

But first I would get your custom cabinetmaker to address the issue for you.

[W]

My preference would be for a clear rubber stripping because I want to use that for the second purpose of keeping items from falling off the shelf.

My cabinet maker doesn't have that rubber stripping.

[Artemus]

You didn't say what the shelf supports look like but if they are the metal "L" brackets that fit into a 1/4" hole then get some surgical tubing and snip off a small piece and slip it over the bottom of the bracket. Art

[allen476]

I have to agree with Swing on this. If it was a custom cabinet, then get him involved. I have an idea that you are looking for t-molding and that isn't a real good solution. If it were me, I would use a wood strip on the front of the shelf and some plain L shaped shelf pins with holes to secure it. See them below.

have an idea this is what you are looking for. Unfortunately it doesn't come in clear.

do call the person that made it for you and see what he has to offer. We don't have any clue as to what your cabinet looks like and can only offer opinions based on personal experience.

Allen

[dadiOH]

Look at weather strips at Lowes/Home Depot and you might find something. I use one from Ace for my screen door that might work...it is self adhesive, about 1/2" wide with about a 1/4" tubular section on the strip. The tubular section will compress to accomodate varying distances. Looks like a "d".

Small screws through the shelf supports would be better if they lend themselves to that. ______________

The usual thing is a thin piece of wood glued or nailed (brads) to the front of the shelf. They help keep stuff from falling off but also make it impossible to wipe off the shelf without removing it. Since your shelves are (presumably) stationary I don't see why you have a problem with stuff falling but if you decide to attach wood strips, make them shorter than the shelves so they gap at shelf ends so you can brush/wipe stuff out through the gaps.

[whit3rd]

Three solutions: (1) put heavy stuff on the shelves

(2) use a bit of stickum where it doesn't show (hot-melt glue, perhaps, or double-sided sticky tape)

(3) alter the shelf-bracket interface (cut notches in the shelf to drop it down slightly onto the brackets, or glue a stop block to the shelf behind a bracket)

Adding 'a strip' at the shelf/sidewall interface can be problematic, because it puts force on that sidewall and can make it bow out.

[W]

Rockler is a nice web site, thanks for references.

I bought the rubber cushions for shelf supports on the page you referenced:

also bought the rubber bumpers on this page:

I was imagining was a product made similar to those rubber bumpers, but as a long strip that I could peel off and just use at the front of each shelf to keep items from coming off. I can try to arrange the bumpers for that purpose, but not sure how that will look.