Mamabee

How to maintain cabinet hinges

Improperly maintained hinges are never a good thing. They squeak. They are difficult to open. They look repulsive. Thankfully, keeping your cabinet hinges in good shape is a little bit easier than you may think. Sure, you will need to put in a small amount of effort every few months. It is worth it, though. Trust us.

This is a step-by-step guide for maintaining your cabinet hinges.

Dealing with squeaky hinges

Got a squeaky hinge? There are a couple of things you can do here.

First, you can spray a bit of WD-40 or AC-90 onto the hinge. Many people find the latter a little bit better, but either is going to be good. This will help to lubricate the hinge. In 90% of cases, this will completely eradicate the problem. 

You may also want to tighten up the screws every few months. Screws will become naturally loose over time. It is going to be a job that takes a couple of seconds per screw. Make sure that you don’t overtighten, though. This will ruin the cabinet door. Tighten until you feel resistance, and you should be fine.

Cleaning your hinges

You will want to wipe down your hinges for your day-to-day cleaning if you get something on them, e.g., food or dust. But, again, a soft cloth will do the trick.

Every year or so, we recommend that you give your hinges a proper clean. 

A lot of people make hinge cleaning a lot more complicated than it needs to be. We have heard stories of people boiling them in a pot of water. You don’t need to do that. You will need to unscrew the hinges. Set the screws to one side. You don’t want to lose any! This is about as complicated as cleaning your hinges is going to get.

For most, using a combination of washing-up liquid and warm water should do the trick. You can then scrub with a toothbrush. Make sure that you get into every single nook and cranny! If there is a lot of grime on the hinges, you may want to mix in a small amount of baking soda and white vinegar. This should lift it right off.

If there is rust on your hinges, you can purchase rust remover products from your local hardware shop. But, at this point, you may as well replace your hinges. Rusty hinges won’t last all that long. The rust will spread. They won’t look good. But you will probably end up replacing them within a year or so anyway.

Treating your hinges well

Much like people, hinges don’t cope all that well with stress. So, avoid putting too much pressure on your hinges.

This means that you shouldn’t slam your cabinets. It also means that you shouldn’t open them up too far. If the hinges need to open all the way, this will wear them down exceedingly correctly.

Treat your cabinet hinges well, and they are going to live for years.

Repace your hinges

Of course, there will come a time where your hinges will ultimately wear out. No hinge lasts forever. This means that you are going to need to replace them. Again, thankfully this is easier than you may think.

Try and get cabinet hinges that are similar to the ones that you already own. This way, it is just a case of swapping them out. It should be a five-minute job per hinge. You will be surprised at how cheap replacement cabinet hinges can be, too, even high-quality ones. 

Conclusion

Hinges will need a bit of TLC. However, a proper maintenance and cleaning regime will ensure that your cabinet hinges stay in decent condition for as long as possible.