Help Help, I'm Being Forced Into Manual Labour!
 

Ok, ok, it's not as bad as the subject header makes it look, but I have absolutely ZERO skills in manual labour.

Question #1: What's the best way to get paint off of metal screws and hinges?

My wife and I are selling our house and moving into an apartment (I have never lived in one). She watches way too much Trading Spaces, so we are removing all of the kitchen cupboard doors and painting them. The problem is, the insides of the cupboard doors have already been painted, and the person who painted them didn't care that he/she was painting right over the screws and hinges. It was a pain just unscrewing and removing everything.

As I go along and find new things to do that I have no clue about, I will post more questions here. Any input is much appreciated.

Just Jordan

choices are apply stripper and a little scrubbing, or new hardware.

Thanks for the quick reply. Would leaving them in a solvent such as varsol do the trick?

Get a commercial paint stripper. The ones with methylene chloride are nasty to the hands and lungs, but they sure work. Wear rubber gloves and work outdoors, rinse with water You can get an electric paint stripping gun which will melt the paint off, be careful they can start fires.

some consideration for whether it is oil or water based paint, and the hardware finish. most good strippers will do either, but the brrass like finish on metal may suffer. for the time needed, it may be better to run to the store for new hardware. if i was doing the job, i would lean that way.

yes, I believe that hiring a stripper is your best course of action. You might also consider getting 2 and having them do some simulated acts.

Thanks for the suggestion TSNAPCRACKLEPOP. Screws are likely easy to replace, I just wonder how easy it would be to replace the hinges with new ones that match the holes perfectly. Any thoughts?

Stripper, screws, holes...sounds like a fun home improvement project.

i would vote for the new hardware. you would need to patch the old holes. glue and dowel plug them if the new hinges are in the same vicinity. but now you are gonna ask, "how do i install new hinges?"

so forget it. paint stripper my friend. do it outside, and get new screws.

i've always been partial to those leather strap hinges, like on old mg and morgans.

take the old ones with you to the store

strippers, screws, holes, leather

...brass poles...

Just went through this with a bunch of polished nickel cabinet hinges. Bought a commercial grade (paint) stripper , poured about three inches in the bottom of a bucket and tossed the hinges and screws in for about 4 hours. Pull them out with a pair of needle nose pliers, run them under the faucet in your basement sink and lightly touch them up with a brass bristled tooth brush size brush. Works beautifully.

Wow, I managed to get touch, brass, stripper, pull, and screw in one post.

As long as it's all true, more power to you dude!

if your lady leaves, just toss them in the dishwasher, add stripper instead of detrergent.

I did this at my house and it was well worth buying new hinges. I got like a bag of 10 or so them for ~ $20. Getting off the old ones required a dremel and a big flat head screw driver. I would slice in the middle and back them out with the screwdrive. Took forever. The bling factor of the new hinges was well worth what I paid for them. :)

Sounds like fun! I'll bring the booze.:D

Keep in mind that some cabinet hardware comes with a laquer finish from the manufacturer.