In the house we’re remodeling for my mother-in-law (and no wisecracks, guys, she’s not well), some #$%&*^@# painted over the nice shiny brass hinges!! Admittedly, it’s a fairly straight line, just covering the area of the hinge that adjoins the door (i.e. not into the pin area.)
I pretty much figured it was new hinges all around if we wanted the repaint to look nice, but I thought I’d ask: does anyone know of a way to get the latex paint off these hinges WITHOUT:
– destroying the clear lacquer which keeps the brass so nice and bright
– involving many hours of hand labor?
I was thinking of just soaking them in water for a while to see if it would soften the latex. I also thought about a citrus-oil cleaner (e.g. Goo Gone), but I’m afraid that might take the clear finish off too. Anybody out there had a similar situation and had any success?
Thanks,
George
Replies
try a product called 'Oops' it claims to take off dried latex paint.
Get it almost anywhere, Wal-Mart, HD..............
Won't cost much to try.
How many were painted over? Would it be just about as cheap to change out the hinges?
If having a low wage work force was good for a country's economy then why hasn't Mexico built a fence?
George,
I had the same problem in my own house while I was renovating. My hinges were 70 years old and had lost alot of the orginal shine. I used laquer thinner to disolve the paint.I laid all the painted hardware in it overnight and by morning the paint almost fell off. Anything left I removed with a brass brush.
After everything dried I buffed then on a buffing wheel . They turned out great.
I have thought about applying a coat of laquer to preserve the shine but never got around to it.
Good luck,
Jon
Boil them in water with baking soda and the paint will fall off.
...that's not a mistake, it's rustic
I've done the boiling in water process with great success too. Never used baking soda with it though. What does that do for the process?
I've done the boiling trick, too, but using TSP -- tri sodium phosphate. It works for metal, glass, and even plastic if you're careful.
-- J.S.
And if you small parts like screws you can put them in a tea ball.
I think the TSP/baking soda acts as a tiny abrasive rolled around by the boiling water. Maybe it does something chemically too, but I'm not sure.
The original poster might want to re-spray with lacquer or Sta-Brite.
You can go ahead and take the paint off however you can, such as soaking them in stripper, and then take the hinges to a local brass restoring place. In my town we have a Brass Buff store. They charged $20 to restore a door handle eschetcheon/plate thingamjig and it turned out like new :)
I am sure something like hinges would not cost much at all for them to treat.
Handyman, painter, wood floor refinisher, property maintenance in Tulsa, OK
If you are willing to remove the hinges, a fine wire wheel is very fast.
I bought a $30 6" grinder -- and equipped one side with a fine wire wheel and the other with a buffing wheel.
If the hardware is heavily encrusted with paint, I will let it sit in stripped first, then take it to the wire wheel.
Spraying it with a can of lacquer will maintain the shine.
********************************************************
"It is what we learn after we think we know it all, that counts."
John Wooden 1910-
Just a comment about the job you have at hand. As soon as you remove each hinge be sure to mark it's exact location , what door and location on that door, before you clean them. Mark the door too while your at it, behind the hinge. Believe me when I tell you that if you bypass this small step you will regret it later. We did a remodel of a 110 year old Victorian and removed the hinges but marked each one with felt pen. We sent all the hinges in to be cleaned , replated and polished. We just weren't thinking and when the hinges came back all the marks were gone...DAAAA! I must have taken us a day or two to get the hinges back on all those doors in the correct position. Lot's of trial and error along with a valuable learning experience.
i have just the opposite question. i'm updating a 40's house with hinges that have aged black and have white paint dripped on them. swmbo wants the white removed without ending up with bright brass (the worst of all sins) when i am done. i've soaked them in laquer thinner, and i'm thinking i will knock off any remaining paint and let them re-develop whatever patina they lose. any suggestions on hurrying the patina process for bare brass?
Try a stainted glass supply house. They have liquid patina for use with copper foil so it might work for brass as well.
Pick off any thick drips. Carefully sand down the thick places and abrade the surface of the remaining white. Then touch it with a black sharpie. Nobody this side of Adrian Monk will ever notice.
-- J.S.
Years ago I tried to fume some brass plated stuff with ammonia. It didn't really do the trick I was hoping for and I am not sure why, but I suspect it had something to do with a real cheap plating job. The problem is you need very strong ammonia, not the stuff from the grocery store. I found an old paint manufacture outfit that was more than happy to sell me a gallon (sure beats paying haz-mat disposal). Had no luck in finding the approiate (sp) respirator filter. So I just poured some in a 5 gal bucket on a windy day and hung the parts above the liquid in the fumes. The fumes sort of burned my hands, nothing serious but you could slightly feel it. That stuff is some dangerous stuff!!!! DO NOT BREATH THE FUMES. You know how nasty a hit of household ammonia is, I guess this stuff could do some serious damage or worse.
In a way I am glad my little expermint was a less than roaring sucess. Took 3 quarts of high test ammonia to the city haz mat place, they were amazed and worried that a regular guy like me had something like that
Are the hinges solid brass or brass plated. If they're plated, you're probably better off replacing them. Most strippers and ALL mechanical methods (like wire brushes) will take the brass plating off, too.
Wow! Lots of good replies - just like I have come to expect from this crew of smart people!! :-)
Are they solid brass? Good question! I pulled one off tonight and brought it home. It is "National" brand, and just from the density, I would say that they are steel with brass plating. So abrasives would not be a good idea.
"Mark each hinge before removing"? What?? In these days of assembly-line interchangeability?? Henry Ford would be shocked! (Actually, I'm guessing that these are of modern-enough vintage (say, 1990) that they WOULD all be interchangeable.) For marking, I like a vibrating carbide engraver.
In short, I've pretty much come to the same conclusion as some have suggested here: replacing them is by far the most cost-effective. Even if the hot-water-and-soda trick DID remove the paint, I'll bet I would face problems with rusted pins (which HAFTA be steel!), loss of lubrication, existing wear in at least SOME of the hinges, baking soda in the bearing areas... YECHHHH! If they were antiques, maybe...
But thanks for all the good tips, all!
George
P.S. Regarding "blackening" the aged hinges: I believe sulfur is the main culprit in most tarnishing processes. I know it is for silver, and I believe it is for brass as well (Google "brass tarnish sulfur"). I'm not sure where you'd get elemental sulfur these days (maybe out of your kid's chemistry set?), but sulfuric acid (aka car-battery acid)would probably do the trick. Maybe buy a sheet of brass at your local hobby shop, and do some experimenting before you brush it onto your hinges. Think "dilution"...
The boiling method works on plated materials....that's not a mistake, it's rustic
scope out my comments in "non-traditional use of HPL in the worksite"
Eric
soak in brake fluid...
wash with paint thinner
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Sounds weird, like strawberry jam on eggs, but soak them in Pinesol. Have used this many times and let it soak a good while and the paint just peels off and does not harm the original finish.
Let's not confuse the issue with facts!
Pine-Sol, eh? Interesting. Does it also remove the clear lacquer that keeps the brass bright?
(And what's wrong with strawberry jam on eggs?? :-) )
George
Never had a problem with it loossening anything but the paint.Let's not confuse the issue with facts!
OK, I've soaking the eggs in pine sol now, and will plan to fry them up Saturday morning. How long do I leave the strawberry jam on the hinges?
Send more coffee, it has been a rough day.
Dusty and Lefty
Be sure to mix the battery acid in with the strawberry jam before applying!
G
This is how its done ;
George,
I had the same problem in my own house while I was renovating. My hinges were 70 years old and had lost alot of the orginal shine. I used laquer thinner to disolve the paint.I laid all the painted hardware in it overnight and by morning the paint almost fell off. Anything left I removed with a brass brush.
After everything dried I buffed then on a buffing wheel . They turned out great.
I have thought about applying a coat of laquer to preserve the shine but never got around to it.
Or spraying every jamb, door and hinge with oil primer . One contractor I worked for wanted me to do that on new houses .
Tim
Clean the hinge with any method that works. Get a can of spray laquer and give it two coats.If any hinges are on exterior doors, refresh the laquer every three or four years.
mike