Which catch should I use to keep a cupboard door shut?
Magnetic, roller, ball, push-to-open and bales — how each holds, how much adjustment each gives you, and which suits a door that has warped.
- Difficulty
- beginner
- Time
- 12 min
- Read
- 3 min
Short answer
A magnetic catch is the simplest and quietest and suits most light cupboard doors. A roller or ball catch grips harder and copes better with a door that has moved. A push-to-open latch is right where there is no handle. A door that will not stay shut usually needs alignment fixing rather than a stronger catch.
Modern kitchen doors on sprung concealed hinges need no catch at all — the hinge holds them. Everywhere else, from a bathroom cabinet to a workshop cupboard to a wardrobe with butt hinges, a catch is what stops the door drifting open, and the choice is mostly about how much holding force you want and how much the door has moved since it was made.
Step by step
- Check whether you need a catch at all.Sprung concealed cup hinges pull the door closed over the last few degrees and hold it. If a door on those hinges will not stay shut, the fix is hinge adjustment, not a catch.
- Magnetic catch for a light, well-fitting door.A magnet on the carcase and a steel plate on the door. Silent, cheap, no moving parts, and the plate is slotted so it adjusts. Holding force is modest and drops off very quickly with even a small gap.
- Double magnetic or high-power catch where the door has some resistance.A door with a seal, a slight warp, or a spring hinge working against it needs more than a basic magnet. Rare-earth catches hold considerably more in the same footprint.
- Roller catch where the door has moved.A spring-loaded roller engages a striker plate. It gives an audible click, it tolerates a door that is not quite square, and it can be adjusted for tension on many types.
- Ball catch for a neat, almost invisible fitting.A sprung ball in a barrel let into the door edge, engaging a small plate in the frame. Traditional, discreet and a good choice on period joinery, but it needs an accurately drilled hole.
- Push-to-open latch where there is no handle.A sprung mechanism that releases when the door is pressed. It is the standard fitting on handleless kitchens. It needs a small gap behind the door and it does not tolerate a door that is already tight.
- Bales, turn buttons and toggle catches for workshop and utility doors.Positive mechanical fastenings for anything that has to stay shut when knocked or moved — a tool cabinet, a van locker, a garden store.
- Diagnose before upgrading.A door that keeps swinging open is usually not level, has dropped on its hinges, or is fouling somewhere. A stronger catch masks that and makes the door harder to open without fixing anything.
- Add a safety catch where a child is involved.Cupboards with cleaning products, medicines or tools need a child-resistant catch rather than a holding catch. Those are a different product with a different job.
Tips
- Fit the plate on the door and the body on the carcase, not the other way round, unless the instructions say otherwise — it usually gives more adjustment and hides the fixing.
- Most catch plates have slotted holes for a reason. Fit, close the door, and then set the plate position rather than screwing it home first.
- On a warped door, a catch top and bottom often works far better than one stronger catch in the middle.
Common mistakes
- Fitting a stronger catch to cure a door that swings open — The door is out of alignment or the carcase is out of plumb. A stronger catch means a door that is hard to open and still not fixed.
- Treating a holding catch as a child lock — A magnetic or roller catch is designed to be opened by a light pull. Cupboards with anything hazardous need a purpose-made safety catch.