diff --git a/src/lib/slide-toggle/_slide-toggle-theme.scss b/src/lib/slide-toggle/_slide-toggle-theme.scss
index 338dfb691164..c3f4181a42bd 100644
--- a/src/lib/slide-toggle/_slide-toggle-theme.scss
+++ b/src/lib/slide-toggle/_slide-toggle-theme.scss
@@ -3,7 +3,9 @@
 
 
 @mixin _md-slide-toggle-checked($palette) {
-  &.md-checked {
+  // Do not apply the checked colors if the toggle is disabled, because the specificity would be to high for
+  // the disabled styles.
+  &.md-checked:not(.md-disabled) {
     .md-slide-toggle-thumb {
       background-color: md-color($palette);
     }
diff --git a/src/lib/slide-toggle/slide-toggle.scss b/src/lib/slide-toggle/slide-toggle.scss
index 02ac7f75987f..a1068e60e295 100644
--- a/src/lib/slide-toggle/slide-toggle.scss
+++ b/src/lib/slide-toggle/slide-toggle.scss
@@ -24,6 +24,12 @@ $md-slide-toggle-margin: 16px !default;
   line-height: $md-slide-toggle-height;
 
   white-space: nowrap;
+
+  // Disable user selection to ensure that dragging is smooth without grabbing some elements
+  // accidentally. Manually prefixing here, because the un-prefixed property is not supported yet.
+  -webkit-user-select: none;
+  -moz-user-select: none;
+  -ms-user-select: none;
   user-select: none;
 
   outline: none;
@@ -68,7 +74,6 @@ $md-slide-toggle-margin: 16px !default;
   height: $md-slide-toggle-height;
 
   position: relative;
-  user-select: none;
 
   margin-right: 8px;
 }
diff --git a/src/lib/slide-toggle/slide-toggle.spec.ts b/src/lib/slide-toggle/slide-toggle.spec.ts
index a810d2185110..cc0080b02795 100644
--- a/src/lib/slide-toggle/slide-toggle.spec.ts
+++ b/src/lib/slide-toggle/slide-toggle.spec.ts
@@ -1,15 +1,21 @@
-import {async, ComponentFixture, TestBed} from '@angular/core/testing';
-import {By} from '@angular/platform-browser';
+import {async, ComponentFixture, TestBed, fakeAsync, tick} from '@angular/core/testing';
+import {By, HAMMER_GESTURE_CONFIG} from '@angular/platform-browser';
 import {Component} from '@angular/core';
 import {MdSlideToggle, MdSlideToggleChange, MdSlideToggleModule} from './slide-toggle';
 import {FormsModule, NgControl} from '@angular/forms';
+import {TestGestureConfig} from '../slider/test-gesture-config';
 
 describe('MdSlideToggle', () => {
 
+  let gestureConfig: TestGestureConfig;
+
   beforeEach(async(() => {
     TestBed.configureTestingModule({
       imports: [MdSlideToggleModule.forRoot(), FormsModule],
       declarations: [SlideToggleTestApp, SlideToggleFormsTestApp],
+      providers: [
+        {provide: HAMMER_GESTURE_CONFIG, useFactory: () => gestureConfig = new TestGestureConfig()}
+      ]
     });
 
     TestBed.compileComponents();
@@ -392,6 +398,96 @@ describe('MdSlideToggle', () => {
 
   });
 
+  describe('with dragging', () => {
+
+    let fixture: ComponentFixture<any>;
+
+    let testComponent: SlideToggleTestApp;
+    let slideToggle: MdSlideToggle;
+    let slideToggleElement: HTMLElement;
+    let slideToggleControl: NgControl;
+    let slideThumbContainer: HTMLElement;
+
+    beforeEach(async(() => {
+      fixture = TestBed.createComponent(SlideToggleTestApp);
+
+      testComponent = fixture.debugElement.componentInstance;
+
+      fixture.detectChanges();
+
+      let slideToggleDebug = fixture.debugElement.query(By.css('md-slide-toggle'));
+      let thumbContainerDebug = slideToggleDebug.query(By.css('.md-slide-toggle-thumb-container'));
+
+      slideToggle = slideToggleDebug.componentInstance;
+      slideToggleElement = slideToggleDebug.nativeElement;
+      slideToggleControl = slideToggleDebug.injector.get(NgControl);
+      slideThumbContainer = thumbContainerDebug.nativeElement;
+    }));
+
+    it('should drag from start to end', fakeAsync(() => {
+      expect(slideToggle.checked).toBe(false);
+
+      gestureConfig.emitEventForElement('slidestart', slideThumbContainer);
+
+      expect(slideThumbContainer.classList).toContain('md-dragging');
+
+      gestureConfig.emitEventForElement('slide', slideThumbContainer, {
+        deltaX: 200 // Arbitrary, large delta that will be clamped to the end of the slide-toggle.
+      });
+
+      gestureConfig.emitEventForElement('slideend', slideThumbContainer);
+
+      // Flush the timeout for the slide ending.
+      tick();
+
+      expect(slideToggle.checked).toBe(true);
+      expect(slideThumbContainer.classList).not.toContain('md-dragging');
+    }));
+
+    it('should drag from end to start', fakeAsync(() => {
+      slideToggle.checked = true;
+
+      gestureConfig.emitEventForElement('slidestart', slideThumbContainer);
+
+      expect(slideThumbContainer.classList).toContain('md-dragging');
+
+      gestureConfig.emitEventForElement('slide', slideThumbContainer, {
+        deltaX: -200 // Arbitrary, large delta that will be clamped to the end of the slide-toggle.
+      });
+
+      gestureConfig.emitEventForElement('slideend', slideThumbContainer);
+
+      // Flush the timeout for the slide ending.
+      tick();
+
+      expect(slideToggle.checked).toBe(false);
+      expect(slideThumbContainer.classList).not.toContain('md-dragging');
+    }));
+
+    it('should not drag when disbaled', fakeAsync(() => {
+      slideToggle.disabled = true;
+
+      expect(slideToggle.checked).toBe(false);
+
+      gestureConfig.emitEventForElement('slidestart', slideThumbContainer);
+
+      expect(slideThumbContainer.classList).not.toContain('md-dragging');
+
+      gestureConfig.emitEventForElement('slide', slideThumbContainer, {
+        deltaX: 200 // Arbitrary, large delta that will be clamped to the end of the slide-toggle.
+      });
+
+      gestureConfig.emitEventForElement('slideend', slideThumbContainer);
+
+      // Flush the timeout for the slide ending.
+      tick();
+
+      expect(slideToggle.checked).toBe(false);
+      expect(slideThumbContainer.classList).not.toContain('md-dragging');
+    }));
+
+  });
+
 });
 
 /**
diff --git a/src/lib/slide-toggle/slide-toggle.ts b/src/lib/slide-toggle/slide-toggle.ts
index 1127e9258284..dbe797589db4 100644
--- a/src/lib/slide-toggle/slide-toggle.ts
+++ b/src/lib/slide-toggle/slide-toggle.ts
@@ -215,16 +215,24 @@ export class MdSlideToggle implements AfterContentInit, ControlValueAccessor {
 
   /** TODO: internal */
   _onDragStart() {
-    this._slideRenderer.startThumbDrag(this.checked);
+    if (!this.disabled) {
+      this._slideRenderer.startThumbDrag(this.checked);
+    }
   }
 
   /** TODO: internal */
   _onDrag(event: HammerInput) {
-    this._slideRenderer.updateThumbPosition(event.deltaX);
+    if (this._slideRenderer.isDragging()) {
+      this._slideRenderer.updateThumbPosition(event.deltaX);
+    }
   }
 
   /** TODO: internal */
   _onDragEnd() {
+    if (!this._slideRenderer.isDragging()) {
+      return;
+    }
+
     // Notice that we have to stop outside of the current event handler,
     // because otherwise the click event will be fired and will reset the new checked variable.
     setTimeout(() => {
@@ -258,7 +266,7 @@ class SlideToggleRenderer {
 
   /** Initializes the drag of the slide-toggle. */
   startThumbDrag(checked: boolean) {
-    if (!this._thumbBarWidth) {
+    if (!this.isDragging()) {
       this._thumbBarWidth = this._thumbBarEl.clientWidth - this._thumbEl.clientWidth;
       this._checked = checked;
       this._thumbEl.classList.add('md-dragging');
@@ -267,7 +275,7 @@ class SlideToggleRenderer {
 
   /** Stops the current drag and returns the new checked value. */
   stopThumbDrag(): boolean {
-    if (this._thumbBarWidth) {
+    if (this.isDragging()) {
       this._thumbBarWidth = null;
       this._thumbEl.classList.remove('md-dragging');
 
@@ -279,10 +287,8 @@ class SlideToggleRenderer {
 
   /** Updates the thumb containers position from the specified distance. */
   updateThumbPosition(distance: number) {
-    if (this._thumbBarWidth) {
-      this._percentage = this._getThumbPercentage(distance);
-      applyCssTransform(this._thumbEl, `translate3d(${this._percentage}%, 0, 0)`);
-    }
+    this._percentage = this._getThumbPercentage(distance);
+    applyCssTransform(this._thumbEl, `translate3d(${this._percentage}%, 0, 0)`);
   }
 
   /** Retrieves the percentage of thumb from the moved distance. */
diff --git a/src/lib/slider/test-gesture-config.ts b/src/lib/slider/test-gesture-config.ts
index 78040bb665f1..d9e83d28ad07 100644
--- a/src/lib/slider/test-gesture-config.ts
+++ b/src/lib/slider/test-gesture-config.ts
@@ -32,7 +32,7 @@ export class TestGestureConfig extends MdGestureConfig {
    * The Angular event plugin for Hammer creates a new HammerManager instance for each listener,
    * so we need to apply our event on all instances to hit the correct listener.
    */
-  emitEventForElement(eventType: string, element: HTMLElement, eventData: Object) {
+  emitEventForElement(eventType: string, element: HTMLElement, eventData = {}) {
     let instances = this.hammerInstances.get(element);
     instances.forEach(instance => instance.emit(eventType, eventData));
   }