Cabinet locks for knobs, handles and cabinets with no hardware: the hardware decides the lock

Three kinds of door

Cabinet hardware is the least-discussed variable in childproofing and it decides the most. A slide lock, the U-shaped plastic piece that slides over two adjacent handles and latches, is the simplest lock ever made and it works only when there are two handles side by side within its reach; Jool publishes that reach as 5 inches. An exterior adhesive latch needs a flat face beside the handle and does not care what the handle is. An internal lock, magnetic or spring, mounts inside the box and is indifferent to the outside of the door entirely. So: knobs, handles or nothing? Paired or single? That is the whole decision, and the rest of the cabinet-lock question is in best cabinet locks for babyproofing.

Side by side

Knobs

Round knobs on a pair of doors are the slide lock's home turf: the loop drops over both, the latch closes, and a toddler pulling one door pulls the other shut. Measure center to center; over 5 inches, the Jool lock will not span it. Knobs on a single door have nothing to pair with, so that door needs an internal or adhesive lock. A knob also gives a toddler a grip to yank with, which is the argument for the internal lock even where a slide lock fits: the slide lock lives on the outside, in full view, and by two the child has watched you open it a hundred times.

Bar handles

Bar handles behave like knobs for slide locks, with one extra check: the loop has to clear the handle's full length, and long modern bar pulls can be too long or too far apart. Vertical bar handles on paired doors are the best case; horizontal pulls on a single door are the worst. Everything else is the same as knobs, including the argument for going internal on the doors that matter most.

No hardware

Handle-less doors, finger pulls, push-to-open latches and integrated grooves are common in newer kitchens, and they rule out slide locks completely. An exterior adhesive latch works if there is a flat face to stick to. The clean answer is magnetic: the latch is inside, the striker is inside, and the door front is untouched, which also keeps a handle-less kitchen looking handle-less. Roving Cove's ring key is the pick here because it reaches through 1.5 inches of solid wood and its screw option handles drawers; the full magnetic ranking is best magnetic cabinet locks. One warning: push-to-open doors spring open when pressed, so the internal latch must catch before the push mechanism releases; test one before installing twelve.

Choose a slide lock if / choose an internal lock if

• Choose a slide lock if the doors are paired, have knobs or handles within 5 inches of each other, and you want zero install and zero residue.
• Choose an internal lock if the door is single, has no hardware, is a drawer, or holds the things that matter (under-sink chemicals, knives, medicine).
• Choose both if you have a normal kitchen, which has all three kinds of door. The no-drill version of this plan is babyproof cabinets without drilling.