Locking Up

Keeping Kids Out of Cabinets

Have you had a professional child proofing specialist come to your house? Neither have I. But luckily for me, I’ve watched several in action at homes much larger than mine. Besides the amusement factor of watching them crawl around on their hands and knees, that’s how I learned about magnetic Tot-Lok.

Tot-Loks install on cabinet doors or inside drawers, and use magnets to close both securely from little ones. You attach the locking mechanism inside the door or drawer, and release the lock and open it by touching the corresponding magnet on the outside.

The magic unlocking magnet sticks to anything metal, so you can place it out of reach of little hands but within easy grasp for an adult. One magnet will unlock as many locks as you choose to install.

We installed the Tot-Loks ourselves, so you certainly don’t need to pay a professional to do it. But you will need a few tools. A drill and screwdriver will make installation much simpler.

Tot-Loks remain invisible from the outside so they don’t catch on anything or add unattractive plastic bits to your designer kitchen decor. Of course, you need to know where to put the magnet to unlock them. We had to draw tiny green dots on our doors to know, though of course you can slide it around until you hear the click which signals release.

We chose to install one set of Tot-Loks on the doors underneath our sink where we keep all our toxic cleaning chemicals. Tot-Loks are made by Safety 1st, which I find curious because I’ve had bad experiences with their other safety products, such as outlet covers and baby gates.