If you’ve ever had to paint a door (or wondered how), I’ve figured out a little way to keep yourself from painting the hinges.
Before you suggest “why don’t you just take the door off the hinges?”, the answer is simple: it’s more time-consuming, and you can’t guarantee that the door will still hang the same when you try to put it back up again – I’d like to avoid that headache if possible :)
First, take a strip of painter’s tape and cover the hinge you are trying to protect.
Next, smooth your finger along the edge of the hinge. In most cases, the hinge will not be exactly flush with the door itself, so you will likely have a recessed edge.
Take an exacto knife and run it along the edge you created in the tape.
Remove the remaining outer portion of the tape that is now separated from the piece that is still covering the metal hinge.
Now, it’s much easier to paint over without needing extra cleanup! Simply remove the taped part when you’re done painting.
You can do the same tape treatment with other spots on the door, such as the inset for the door lock. Don’t forget, sand down your doors where possible to help the paint adhere to the surface faster. Right now, I’m using a base coat of BEHR Ultra Premium prime+paint (only on the first coat - the color tends to yellow so I like the non-primer for the top coat) to make the job go even faster, but the process is still several coats away from the finished product. Here’s hoping my final coat tonight is the final coat, and I can reveal the rest of the bedroom!
Hmm… good idea for the hinges. I'll have to try out that tip – we have around 7 doors that need to be painted sooner or later, and I'll admit that I've totally been slacking and procrastinating, partially because I don't want to take the doors down. Thanks for the tip!
Glad I could help! The first door wasn't nearly as simple. I actually re-created the door hinge shape and cut the tape to fit… over and over again for each side of the hinge. I eventually learned my lesson though – too many doors in the house to continue with that method!
I was just trying to figure this out! I'm in the midst of painting my bathroom and there is a tight space needing painted where it's either remove the whole door or (I thought) paint over the hinge. This is so much better! Thanks
Great idea! Thanks! I love it that you share all these trial and errors. Being a single woman and having to do all this stuff around the house can be overbearing at times and this post really helps.
Great idea! So simple, yet so effective.
Can you tell me how to get paint off the hinges without removing them.
Thanks
Scrape with a razor blade. You can buy one that has a little sleeve that you can also use for scraping paint off glass (like around your windows).
I have also seen where you can soak them in a slow-cooker and it will remove the paint (but you'd have to take the hinges off the door, obviously, so not as easy as scrapping).
Thanks, Amanda P
Scrape carefully with a razor blade to remove paint.
probably dumb question, but what type of paint did you use for your doors and trim? do you have to sand at all? mine are all ugly 70's flat doors, that are really needing a makeover!
Not dumb. I used Behr Ultra White in semi-gloss. I sanded the doors but did't sand the trim (though I did use Zinsser primer in high traffic/scuff areas first). These doors are all flat too; I'm considering beefing them up with color (like light gray).