Fixing Up Old Door Hardware

When I got to work on the pantry, I made up my mind to try and restore the original thumb latch door hardware. From what I've read, this type of door hardware became popular in the 1700s, when they were imported from England in bulk. They continued to be the "hardware of choice" in buildings up until shortly after our home was built in 1830. Anyway, it was important to me to maintain the historical character of the house, and cleaning up the latch was definitely a top priority.

Unfortunately, the latch was covered with almost 200 years' worth of paint! I don't know how many coats were on there, but it was a LOT. This is where I get back on my soapbox for a minute... If you are going to paint a door, PLEASE-- REMOVE THE HARDWARE! Take the knob off and remove the door from its hinges! You will thank me. And future homeowners will thank you. Because it really takes just a few extra minutes to do this, but the end result is a MUCH better paint job and clean, good-looking hardware! Oh, and if you are a person who paints over the screw heads, then I might be forced to maim you. It took five times as long to remove that latch as it should have, because of all the jerks fine people who had painted over the screws over the years. Do I sound annoyed? I was! At one point, I considered giving up and just leaving the door hardware on there. Flathead screws, where that thin line is filled with paint? Definitely one of the circles of hell...

BUT... Moving on... I first went to the mecca of all home improvement websites (in my opinion): This Old House! I was raised watching the show on PBS, and these guys really know their stuff. The suggestion was to soak the paint-covered hardware in a crock pot overnight, with a lot of water and a little bit of dish soap. So, I did that. (A quick note: You'll want to use one of those crock pot liner bags, ESPECIALLY if you think there is any chance of lead paint. You don't want to contaminate your lovely crock pot!) I kept walking into the kitchen thinking that something good was cooking, but alas... it was just my door hardware. Such a disappointment!

So I let my hardware simmer overnight. You know, to let the flavors meld together and allow for the meat to get nice and tender... oh WAIT, no. It was a steaming vat of rust and paint goo. Nastiness. I did not take a picture because it was yucky-looking! Use your imagination.

I then used some pliers to pull the pieces out, and scrubbed away at them with a stiff nylon brush. No dice. A lot of paint came off, but there were just too many layers. The older layers didn't show any sign of budging. So I had to go for the hard stuff: stinky, horribly toxic paint remover. I had the strong stuff. I put it in a glass container with my hardware, let it sit for about half and hour (OUTSIDE!), and BAM! Just a little bit of scrubbing (while wearing rubber gloves!), and it was as clean as it would ever get.

At that point, I made the decision to spray paint it. It was clear that it had originally been black, but it was scratched up and kind of splotchy. And I happened to have the right spray paint just sitting there... so I did it, and it looked fabulous! Like it was brand new again! Amazing!

I got it installed again after the door was painted, and was even able to turn the latch around so that the handle was on the outside. It took a little reconfiguring, but wasn't bad. The end result is a door latch that looks like it would have back in 1830. I am very pleased! And now to do this same thing on about a million more doors in the house... DOH!!!