Stripping Door Hardware

I had great results with 4 tablespoons baking soda and 1 quart boiling water ontop of the stovefor about 20 minutes .place hardware in pan not used for food. i found it on martha stewarts website. i used a fryerpot with a small strainer and ran it under hot water and almost all the paint came right off.it says u can rub it with steel wool if it is stubborn or repeat but i just wiped it with a soft paper towel after wards and it was really clean.

Posted by: guest at November 4, 2007 7:32 PM

This Old House recommended simmering pieces overnight in a crockpot on med with water and a little liquid laundry detergent. But the baking soda recipe sounds easier. Will be trying one (or both!) of these myself soon, please post if one works!

Posted by: guest at November 4, 2007 9:44 PM

a mix of a few table spoons of ammonia to a quart of water will help strip paint and off brass and silver and gold and things without damaging the metal... however if there is a lot of paint i would recomment soaking them for a few hours, then taking them out and putting them in fresh solution so it's not sitting in the paint... the ammonia won't damage the metal and your hardware will come out looking.. make sure to take off an iron hardware such as screws or the posts on the doorknobs first... soaking the iron with the other metals will ruin your brass... it's easy, you'll have great hardware, and it works... i've been doing it for decades

Posted by: guest at November 5, 2007 7:49 PM