How We Restored Antique Door Hardware
My husband and I have been working on a project for what feels like months behind the scenes. And, gosh, I just want to tell you about it already. I’m sure there will be plenty of blog posts to follow with the entire backstory, but today I’m going to share the one about restoring door hardware.
These beauties are from the 100-year-old doors in my grandparent’s house. They have been painted over multiple times and needed to be brought back to life. So I knew they’d be a big part of the overall makeover process for the doors—we have almost all the original doors!
It’s not uncommon to see hardware painted over. I don’t know if this was a trend at some point, but it often makes me want to shout, “Why?!”
There are some things in this house I just can’t save, but I knew I could do something about the doors and their hardware. I saw this trick years ago, and after a bit of refresher research, I decided to give it a try.
The first step is tedious but a no-brainer—you’ve got to remove all the hardware from the door. I originally was only going to do the hardware on the actual door but realized another piece affixed to the door jam had to come off, too. My husband frowned at this, but I didn’t want stripped hardware since the hinges join together.
We pulled everything off the doors and carefully stashed the plates, hinges, screws, and the teeny tiny pins that hold the knobs together. And in no way did someone accidentally drop the box out of stress and frustration…ahem..it was me, and I hope I found all the pieces.
Next, we went to the dollar store and bought a crock-pot. Folks, no matter if you put a liner in it, this is a one-job mission for the crock-pot. Go into it knowing you won’t be cooking soup in it afterward.
I filled the crock-pot halfway with water and put a couple of tablespoons of Dawn dish soap in. I placed the hardware pieces in the water and set the temperature to low. I covered it up and let it sit. Some resources will recommend letting this sit overnight, but I was able to remove the paint in as little as four hours. You’ll want to test it for yourself, and your soak time is dependent on layers of paint, type of paint, etc.
If you have a house full of hardware like us, you’ll want to work in batches.
Once the hardware has had a good soak, pull it out of the crock-pot (P.S. It will be hot, so use gloves, tongs, etc.). You can sometimes peel the paint off in sheets, or you may need to use a brush to help scrape all the paint off. Then, give it a good rinse, and let it thoroughly dry.
Go to part two for how we painted the hardware!
If you need a cinematic version, watch it below.