Cotton Balls glued to Kitchen Knob Screws
 

I am thinking of changing the knobs in my kitchen. I see that all of the knob screws (inside the door) have little cotton balls glued to them. What are these for? It seems like you aren't supposed to change the knobs.

Anyone know about this?

News to me. Have you tried googling it? Let us know what you find.

never heard of cotton balls, maybe felt buttons? The felt is sometimes used to keep the doors from making noise when closing. Either way you can take what ever is covering the screws off.
Steve

????

Wow! If so, this is the most innovative way to reuse those cotton balls from pill bottles...

I'm guessing to keep you from ripping your skin open when you need to open the door and grab the dish detergent, or have to clear the trap to the Insinkerator.

Is it safe to assume that you bought a preowned home? It seems to be a DIY "solution" to some unknown problem. I can't imagine the cotton balls being installed by the cabinet installer when new.

That was my assumption as well.

My guess is that they may have cut their finger on a screw that had a spur on it, and used the cotton balls to prevent it from happening again.

I would love to see a picture of this!
Steve

Home made Rawlplugs, because cupboard handles kept pulling off?
Must confess to using matchsticks years ago to give a screw some grip.

My guess is that the folks put those on to stop the noise and hard close of the doors. The doors probably did not have the little felt pads or the little silicone dots that control the hard close.

I vaguely remember getting the little dots at Lowes and installing them on our new home here four years ago.

I think you misunderstood the OP. The cotton balls were glued to the screws behind the knobs. They have no effect on the noise when closing the cabinet doors or drawers, because they are not located where the door contacts the frame when closing it.

I would think they used it instead of a washer so they wouldn't over tighten the head and damage the wood.

Uploaded pics to original post.

That is something I've seen a few times in my kitchen rehabs. They are placed on there for peace of mind that when you shut the door (maybe too hard) that the metal screw won't crack or break any glassware that may be sitting to close to the edge. In my opinion they are not necessary, especially if the new pulls/handles are installed properly. Just tear off the cotton balls (I've seen some with felt glued over them) and put on your new ones.

Safety if the screws you had were pointy.

I was told that one way to keep palmetto bugs out of cupboards is to put a couple of drops of peppermint oil on a cottonball and place it in the cupboard. Maybe that's what the cottonballs are for.

In my 38 years of construction I have never seen or heard of putting cotton on the screw heads.
Interesting thought on the peppermint oil.
Steve

You have a gas stove. I'm so envious. The cabinets in TV homes are not as deep as what we were used to before. Our glasses come right to the edge and maybe jut out a bit. I'm wondering if the cotton balls are to keep the screw from scratching whatever is in the cabinets.

Or someone with a funny sense of humor. Glued them on before selling house then has been sitting back reading everyone’s comment (figuring it would end up on TOTV ) and having a good chuckle. 😊

This is how my kitchen cabinets look on the inside.

Actually just converted from electric to gas. Hated the electric stove.

I don't think it's a scratch protection thing. For instance they are on the doors that are under the sink where the cotton balls are way up at the top and couldn't hit anything that you would put under the sink.

My guess would be that at some point in time the screw head impacted and broke/damaged something inside the cabinet and this was the owners solution.

My guess is that after the home was purchased an owner put new drawer and cabinet pulls on with screws that "stuck out". The new homes do not come with screws that "stick out". And typical wall cabinets are 13" deep as shown here.

Strange to say the least. I have been a cabinetmaker for 45 years and never seen or heard of this.

Wow Gracie, something in common, we have the same color cabinets--not the typical Fl white

My guess is so they dont scratch any "favorite" or valuable item placed inside the draw.

Why not try taking one of them (The Cotton Plug) off and then standing back get ready to run if necessary and close the door. See what the result is? Report back ASAP cause we we be very concerned about your safety.

It's just someone who changed the pull on the cabinet and had those little felt things which would go in place of the existing rubber stoppers and instead of throwing the away used them. It wasn't a man who did the job or into the garbage, they would have gone.

Good question :1rotfl: though. Had the entire community tied up in knots for a while?

Well....... not the entire community! :icon_bored:

We have them in our house too! We call them "dust bunnies" :ohdear:

Well must be the wrong screws, every knob screws I ever seen were button head or flat headed screws. Probably striped out the original screws from over tighten and used what ever had laying around? Just replace the door knobs. Though cheap one hard to grab, sometimes you finger gets stuck behind them and get pinched.