Customer Reviews

Tot-Lok 9 Piece Loc Assembly

5 star:		(19)
4 star:		(9)
3 star:		(3)
2 star:		(4)
1 star:		(6)

 

 

We have found these to be substantially better than the traditional latches that allow an adult to open a drawer or cabinet a few inches before pushing the latch loose because a child can easily open the door those few inches, insert fingers and slam it closed. Not the end of the world, but a minor emergency waiting to happen and they always occur at the most inopportune times...like when you're on your way out the door.

I'm not sure what the previous reviewer meant by the Tot Locks not working if you don't have a dividing frame. That's simply not true. We don't have a center frame / post on our cabinet doors and there is not issue. You just install it on the upper or lower frame. That said, the directions were far from perfect in representing this so I can understand someone could misread them. The type on those instructions is also tiny.

So, in summary...

Best Features of Tot Locks:
* when closed, doors do not budge at all for child pulling on cabinet knob
* there is a latch you can flip on a lock by lock basis to keep them open either for high traffic periods of time (baking holiday cookies, for instance) or after the toddler becomes a bit more savvy and doesn't find it humurous to remove everything in the cupboard.

Things I'd Improve if I were the Designer of Tot Locks:
* better written and illustrated instructions, or pointer to a web site with details for various odd scenarios.
* better hole depth stopper for drill bit. It moves a little and if you're not careful you can drill right through your cabinet door.

All in all, two thumbs up.

At first I've installed the more inexpensive finger-press lock on one of my kitchen cabinet doors, and my 15 month old figured how to unlock it before I even started installing next lock. So I returned those, and got the Tot-Loc instead. I think they're great, it even has an "unlock" feature which is very helpful when tidying up the kitchen after the baby has gone to bed at night.

The first lock was a bit confusing to install, be sure to read the instruction word by word. Once I understood exactly what to do the rest were easy to install, although we might owe it to our cherry cabinets. It might've been harder to drill through oak or particle board without proper tools or experience.

To prevent drilling through the cabinet doors, I've marked my drill with a masking tape which helped me quite a bit.

We were cheap when we bought cabinet locks for our kitchen and only put these magnetic locks on the really dangerous stuff like chemicals under the sink and the alcohol cabinet. My husband installed the cheaper open-the-door-push-lever-down type on all the others since it was an easier install. We never had trouble with smushed fingers but our 14 month old figured out how to work the lever type all by himself within a month of the installation. What a waste of time and effort! Also, the lever type of locks give a toddler the impression that the cabinet is "openable" whereas they lose interest when the cabinet door doesn't budge at all as with these magnetic locks.

I would agree that these are more time consuming to install but MUCH more worth it.

The only downside I've found about this item is when you disengage the locks, unless you scotch tape the mechanism in place they tend to want to re-engage.

Although they take a little getting used to, they are the best cabinet locks by far. I bought the 9-Piece set (8 locks and one 'key').

As others have pointed out, you have to take great care in drilling, as you can drill through your cabinet door. I found that if you wrap masking tape around the drill bit several times (tightly), it makes a good drill stop. If you want it to be better, position the included drill stop and tape it into position with masking tape. It will take about 20-30 turns of tape to make sure it's secure, and you have to be careful, but it's a little better indicator of where you should stop.

The instructions say to install the strike first, but I also found that only marking the holes first, then installing the lock, and then installing the strike worked a little better. The reason for this is that sometimes there is a slightly bigger gap between the door/drawer and where the strike is installed. Some need to be installed closer toward the door and the template sets the screws too far back.

Multiple 'keys' is a must, especially if you install these in more than one room. If in a Master Bath, have one key for either vanity.

I figure once our toddler has lost interest since he can't get into the cabinets, we will leave them all disabled except the places where there's anything that could be remotely dangerous if he got into it. Right now he doesn't care about the cabinet contents, he just wants to slam the doors. I think we got these just in time so he doesn't get interested in what's IN the cabinets.

I like this product so far but, boy are they difficult to install. Our toddler could open the latch locks by pulling hard, that we installed 5 years ago, so we needed a different option. He definately cannot open these. The magnet is finicky unless everything is lined up perfectlyand the latch itself isn't to tight against the cabinet itself. We had to adjust several times.

Overall I am very pleased. I'm not sure they can make it easier to install - it is the nature of the beast.

I held off on buying these locks even though I heard they're the best ones out there because I didn't like the idea of needing a key for my cabinets, and I heard they were difficult to install. However, after my 2 year old managed to slam his fingers several times in "locked" cabinets, and broke through some of the locks I had (sloppily) installed, I decided I needed a more permanent fix, so I bought a tot lock starter kit.

I'm only using 2 tot locks right now and they're on the same floor of the house, so it hasn't bothered me at all needing a key. I would suggest having at least one key for each floor of your house where there are tot locks though, because a key could easily become misplaced if you are constantly moving it.

As for the installation, I actually thought they were pretty easy to install. The instructions are tough to understand and you have to have a certain size drill bit for it to work right, but if you do what you're supposed to the locks line up perfectly and lock the cabinets nice and tightly, unlike the cheaper locks, which I could never get lined up right and still allowed my kids to open the cabinets enough to get their fingers slammed in the doors. I'd say it took about 1/2 hour to install each lock, and well worth it because looks like my son won't be able to break through these locks as he did with the cheaper model locks.

These locks are not easy to install and I just want to reiterate what everyone else has written. But, they are the best option for keeping prying fingers out of cupboards and drawers. All in all we are happy with the purchase and are going to be putting more Tot-Loc's on cabinet doors around the house. I would also suggest buying a heavy duty magnet or another Tot-loc key in case you lose the ONE they include in this kit.

These locks are wonderful. They are hidden,very easy to install and the kids will not get into to any of the cabinets. I used them on our family medicine cabinet in the kitchen and it works great! All the below the counter cabinets are locked and my 16 month old can't get to anything!! These are a must have if you have children!! I can't say enough about them. They are worth every penny!!! I wish I would have thought of this idea!!

I discovered Tot-Loc when my son was 5 months old. I had tried all the other types of child safety locks with my oldest two children. Finger injuries were abundant on both of my children and myself and the locks would where-out and need to be replaced.

These locks close the drawers and doors flush and visitors can not tell that they are even there. You need a drill to install them and it can be trying with various styles of cabinets. We had to cut part of the inside lip to the drawers in our kitchen to fit the latch inside so it would work. My husband does not care much for the installation process but agrees that it is far superior to all other child locks and that it is the only one for our home. Once they are installed, they are very easy to use.

Another reviewer asked if it could be glued on, no it can not. The magnet that works the latch is located in a hole that is drilled.

If you are worried about the landlord approving, I would suggest asking them. When we sold our home, the couple that moved in had a baby and were very pleased to have the latches already in place, and they do not deface the outside of the cabinet. When we moved into our new home the first thing we did was install the tot-locks right before our fourth child arrived :)

I purchased a second magnet and was greatfull. I had dropped the magnet into a drawer on accident as it was closing. I was able to use the spare to re-open the drawer!

These tot locks are time consuming to install, but are well worth the effort! We have solid wood cabinets in our kitchen, and they work fine for us, so I am not sure what happened with the other reviewer.
Our son never pinches his fingers in the cupboards and we have yet to lose the key. we just place it on top of the stove, and on our mirror in the bathrooms.
tot locks have saved me a lot of clean-up and worry. I think they are wonderful