Automatic Door Closer – No-Drill Retractable Cable Closer for Sliding Screen Doors & Light Interior Doors

A spring-loaded cable that pulls a light door shut behind you

This is the small square door closer you stick or screw to a door: inside the 2.5 inch plastic box is a spring reel holding a thin steel cable. You hook the end of the cable on a clear adhesive hook on the door frame, and every time the door is opened the reel winds the cable back in and pulls the door closed. It is made for the doors people forget: a sliding patio screen door, a bedroom or bathroom door that should stay shut, a closet the dog has learned to open. It pulls with about two pounds of force, which is enough to swing a light, freely-hung door closed and not enough to click a latch.

What it actually is

• A cable reel, not a hydraulic closer. There is no arm, no piston and no damping. A coil spring inside the box winds the cable in at a steady pull. The maker rates it at 1000 grams of pull, which is roughly 2.2 pounds of force at the cable.
• Two ways to mount it. A double-sided foam adhesive pad for a no-drill fix on a clean, smooth, non-porous surface, or four small screws through the corner holes for a permanent one. The frame side is a clear self-adhesive hook. Most people who keep it long-term end up using the screws; the adhesive is the part that fails first.
• 47 inches of cable. The reel holds about 1.2 meters of thin steel cable with a wire loop and brass crimp on the end. A small hex key is included to set how far the cable can pull out, so the door stops where you want it.
• How hard it pulls is up to you. The spring is not adjustable, but where you place the box and the hook changes the leverage: near the hinge for a gentler pull, further out for a firmer one.
• Two colors. White or black plastic. The white can carry a faint cool tint next to bright white paint.

Which doors it closes, and which it does not

Size and specification, as the maker states it

Fitting it

• Clean both surfaces with alcohol and let them dry. Adhesive on dust, gloss paint that is still soft, textured or porous surfaces will let go.
• Box on the door, hook on the frame, both at the same height, the box near the edge that opens. For a sliding door, the box goes on the moving panel and the hook on the fixed frame or jamb.
• Press the pad on and wait. Give the adhesive a day before you hook the cable up; it reaches full strength slowly. If the door gets daily use, put the screws in from the start.
• Hook the loop on and test. If the door slams, move the hook closer to the hinge side or lower the box; if it stalls, move them further apart or clean the track.
• To hold the door open, unhook the loop. The cable will retract on its own, so let it wind back slowly rather than letting go of it.

Good to know

• It will not latch a door. It swings the door to the frame. If you need the latch to click, this is the wrong product; a hinge-mounted spring or a hydraulic closer is.
• The cable winds back fast. Keep fingers and heels clear as the door closes, and never let the loop snap back against the box.
• The hook is the weak point. It is a small plastic hook. If the loop is yanked sideways, the hook can break. Hang the loop straight, and keep the cable in line with the hook.
• Adhesive can mark paint. Removing the pad from painted drywall or a painted door can lift paint. On a surface you care about, use the screws.
• One closer per door. This listing is one closer. If you have two doors, order two.

In the box

• One door closer with the cable fitted, in the color you choose
• One double-sided adhesive pad for the box
• One clear self-adhesive hook for the frame
• Four screws
• One small hex key for setting the cable stop