I had never heard of "soft close". Have you? It is a type of hinge for a kitchen cabinet door. If you have soft close hinges, the doors will slowly and gently close unless they are opened very widely. Widely open, they stay open but left on something of an angle, the doors will slowly (and at first, eerily) close. Seeing several cabinet doors closing on their own is a sight to behold.
I am reminded of a moment in the play "No Time for Sergeants" when an over-zealous private tried to dress up the latrine by installing a lever so that a row of toilet seats could be made to rise in unison to "salute" the incoming inspecting officer.
I had never paid much attention to cabinet doors in the kitchen or bathroom. If you imagine your kitchen with all the doors gone, you understand how much the doors add to an appearance of quiet, clean order. Our doors are getting older and recently, some of the most used ones failed to close properly or to hang right. Gaping, sagging doors spoil the appearance of the kitchen, too.
I like to close the cabinet doors when I finish putting things in or out. I am surprised at how persistent my hands are at trying to close the doors immediately instead of letting the soft close hinge do its work. Like the bigger, older door closers on screen and storm doors, the soft close works on an air chamber, slowly letting air out to close.
Now, I have to pay attention to which doors I am using. Some of our other cabinets throughout the house have the older hinges and need to be closed, softly please, all the way by hand. Yes, it's old fashioned but I can still do it.
