Shining up the hardware

So I found a method of removing paint from old hardware online last night. Cook the paint encrusted hardware in a crock pot on medium heat overnight with a little bit of laundry soap in the water. I don't know what the laundry detergent does, if it would work with just water, or if the soap is necessary, but these are the results I got using this method. I went to bed at like 2 last night (I was researching how to do this) and had just put them in, woke up at 9 and these are what I got in that time. 

I thought I would post a picture of WHERE the hardware was-we had already removed the hardware itself, but I think this gives an idea of how covered in paint it was. I honestly didn't even know that there was a little piece of metal here, I could barely see the outline of the screws, and it took a lot of scraping to show where the flat head screwdriver was supposed go to unscrew it. This is where the little metal piece goes at the top of the french doors for the chain lock. And where the lock is screwed into the door.  Look! There is real wood up under the many layers of paint! It's amazing. And you can't really see it here, but the wood is actually in pretty good condition! You can kind of see it in the left picture-I am not sure what the little metal piece is called that went there but... It's a little piece that goes over the chain to hold it down basically. I am so not a renovator or up on all my hardware lingo, so I apologize. But even being as hardware illiterate as I am, I know you DON'T PAINT HARDWARE. Ever. Don't. If you are ever painting and ask yourself (or anyone else for that matter) "should I remove the hinges/lock/doorknob or just paint on them?" REMOVE them. Paint. Put hardware back on where it belongs. 

Painted over hardware does NOT look good-especially when it has been painted over so many times, which is the case here. All it takes is one person with a layer of paint and everyone after them wants to do the same and just paint right over again, but we aren't going to be "those people". And I could just buy some new hardware-we aren't hard up for cash or anything, but I would rather preserve SOME original details in the house, and FREE is better than spending anything on them. They are perfectly functional still, just painted! I can fix it.

Now onto the metal pieces. This is what they look like out of the crock pot with a little finger scrubbing to remove the largest pieces of paint. I don't know what kind of metal this is, it kind of looks brass or copper. It's hard to tell with how tarnished it is, and with the paint on it, it was REALLY hard to tell it was even metal. 

And here is the condition of the paint as it is removed. It comes off in pretty decent sized chunks, it doesn't slowly flake off, it just peels right off. I will say if you try this, don't do it when the metal is fresh out of the crock pot-its a little too hot to handle, but don't wait until it cools completely either-it's a little harder to remove when it is cooled. When it is a little warmer, it peels right off, but when it is cool-it still comes off, but it's more "flaky". 

And here is the little chain cover after a little bit of baking soda and toothbrush scrubbing. See how SHINY?! And not covered in paint! It's amazing how little of work it took to bring this back to looking like real hardware and not just a blob on the door. I don't have a picture of the little piece that goes above the door-I am still working on that. It is pretty tarnished, so I am going to pick up some tarnish remover at the hardware store later when we pick up paint and supplies etc. 

And onto the chain! Why ANYONE ever thought to paint the entire chain, I am not sure! It would not have been hard to unscrew the chain cover and pull up the chain so it was out of the way. Seriously folks. Don't paint hardware. I will come to your house and HUNT YOU DOWN. :) Here is the chain and lock fresh out of the crock pot this morning. See all the paint? There have to be 3-4 layers of paint-and I am not talking your average run of the mill layers of paint. These people apparently thought it needed to be globbed on to be good or something. I don't know. It is not pretty!

You can see that some of the paint was already flaking off a little bit-just from me handling it to get it out of the crock pot. This chain is where I discovered the "flaking if cooled" paint removing. I realized with all the spaces in the chain, I need to work on it in phases. Little bits at a time. So I started with the easier part-the lock. It is the biggest and easiest part of the chain. 

The paint peeled off of this pretty easily-and the boiling time in the crock seemed to make it bubble up a lot. I had to use a toothpick in the little crevice to get it out, but other than that, it came off with my hands.  I started in scrubbing with a toothbrush and some baking soda-see the difference? I scrubbed the whole thing but it still looks really tarnished so I am going to see about some tarnish remover at Lowes today. Either way-tarnished or perfectly shiny, it is better than paint covered!