The cutlery drawer and the curse of the missing knife

[Brian Drought]

We bought an IKEA six pack of cutlery so it was pretty obvious we were missing two knifes.

I popped the cutlery drawer out (and the one below it) and had a look.

If you do the same, BEHOLD the enormous gap above the waste water tank that then vanishes down to a gap between it and the outer skin.

Thinking there's probably no way I'd lost a knife down there but willing to have a go, I got a magnet on a stick and had a bit of a fishing session between the waste tank and thr bodywork. It's a tiny gap to work in so you need child like wrists, but guess what I fished out?



Found another one too.

Anyway.. lesson here is, either secure your cutlery really well, and/or like I'm going to do in the morning, block that gap up with a spare towel / pillow / child. At least then you have a fighting chance of stopping anything vanishing forever.

 

[Epigram]

Thanks for this useful information. I will block the gap with something although my grown up children are unlikely to fit.

 

[BabaJen]

I have taken the cutlery compartment out of the cutlery drawer and now keep my best plates and tea towels in there together with my cutlery which I keep rolled up in a tool roll. No chance of anything falling out (I have a Cali but same problem)

 

[Dan]

Thanks for posting! Also only a few weeks on I am missing an (IKEA!) knife from my set and assumed it had been misplaced while camping with other friends but now I’m going to take a look if it’s disappeared into the same gap!

 

[KDM]

Soon after picking up our MP I lined all the cabinets and drawers with non-slip material. Most plates and cups are wrapped with paper towel and in gallon ziplock bags. The cutlery is wrapped in paper towel with an elastic around them. The paper towel becomes a convenient napkin when we stop to eat. Cutlery sections are lined with the non-slip matting that I cut to size. No rattling sounds from our cupboard

 

[Epigram]

We bought an IKEA six pack of cutlery so it was pretty obvious we were missing two knifes.

I popped the cutlery drawer out (and the one below it) and had a look.

If you do the same, BEHOLD the enormous gap above the waste water tank that then vanishes down to a gap between it and the outer skin.

Thinking there's probably no way I'd lost a knife down there but willing to have a go, I got a magnet on a stick and had a bit of a fishing session between the waste tank and thr bodywork. It's a tiny gap to work in so you need child like wrists, but guess what I fished out?

View attachment 619

Found another one too.

Anyway.. lesson here is, either secure your cutlery really well, and/or like I'm going to do in the morning, block that gap up with a spare towel / pillow / child. At least then you have a fighting chance of stopping anything vanishing forever.

Back home and cleaning up after 6 weeks away and remembered this post. Removed both drawers and blocked gaps with foam and screened with heavy gauge polythene attached with Velcro. The back of the drawers are now cutlery and (possibly) Lego proof.
Not impressed with lack of attention to the detail by Westfalia to prevent what must be a potential problem with any drawer containing small items, whether or not you wrap things up when travelling.
Also used this as an excuse to buy a fishing magnet for my toolkit!

 

[Brian Drought]

Back home and cleaning up after 6 weeks away and remembered this post. Removed both drawers and blocked gaps with foam and screened with heavy gauge polythene attached with Velcro. The back of the drawers are now cutlery and (possibly) Lego proof.
Not impressed with lack of attention to the detail by Westfalia to prevent what must be a potential problem with any drawer containing small items, whether or not you wrap things up when travelling.
Also used this as an excuse to buy a fishing magnet for my toolkit!

Great work!

Yeah, it was a bit shocked to be honest. Clearly no real testing there as once you see the massive gap and the very very low lip on the cutlery tray it's a bit of a wonder how more stuff doesn't end up down there!

 

[staratio]

We bought an IKEA six pack of cutlery so it was pretty obvious we were missing two knifes.

I popped the cutlery drawer out (and the one below it) and had a look.

If you do the same, BEHOLD the enormous gap above the waste water tank that then vanishes down to a gap between it and the outer skin.

Thinking there's probably no way I'd lost a knife down there but willing to have a go, I got a magnet on a stick and had a bit of a fishing session between the waste tank and thr bodywork. It's a tiny gap to work in so you need child like wrists, but guess what I fished out?

View attachment 619

Found another one too.

Anyway.. lesson here is, either secure your cutlery really well, and/or like I'm going to do in the morning, block that gap up with a spare towel / pillow / child. At least then you have a fighting chance of stopping anything vanishing forever.

So that is where the fork went. Was wondering....


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

 

[Epigram]

About to get on the road again .....at last!

The overfilled cutlery drawer reminded me of this post.

I bet the holes in the back of the kitchen are still there on new vehicles. New owners might want to plug the gaps behind the drawers before items go missing and become infuriating poltergeists !
PS I have lost the fishing magnet..(see above) probably fallen down the back of a drawer !

 

[alltorque]

Great tip Epigram! Going out to check for lost spoons now! :-D

 

[Wandering Hearts]

I know I am being thick here but how do you pop out the drawers?

 

[Epigram]

In the on line manual under the obscure heading of cleaning the drain!
From memory one, is a bit fiddly so the diagram helps - good luck.

 

[Wandering Hearts]

Oh mine are bright metal runners nothing like that

 

[Epigram]

Mine are bright metal too but I managed to find the release tag using the diagram.