Ways to Maintain Your Kitchen Cabinet Hinges

High quality hardware is an essential part of kitchen cabinets. Regular care and maintenance is essential for any accessory as it prolongs the life of the hardware and prevents damage and failure. Take hinges for example, they need to withstand hundreds and thousands of times of opening and closing doors. After frequent opening, closing and banging, hinges are likely to loosen and start to creak, which is not only annoying but also a potential safety issue. We have compiled a list of hinge maintenance methods to help you know how to make them last longer and keep them strong.

How to care and maintain your cabinet hinges?

• 1. Wipe the hinges with a dry and soft cloth. 

In normal life, if you accidentally drip soy sauce, vinegar or salt on the hinges, wash them off promptly and wipe them with a clean, dry, soft cloth.

• 2. Avoid acidic or alkaline detergents.

Do not use acidic or alkaline detergents to clean hinges, as most chemicals are harmful to the varnished finish on the hardware. If you find any dark spots on their surface that are difficult to remove, wipe them with a little neutral detergent. Mild soap and water are useful options. The chemicals used in most detergents and polishes can be harmful to the varnish finish on almost all brands of door hardware on the market.

• 3. Keep your cabinets dry.

Being in humid air for a long time can cause your hinges to rust. And rust can quickly damage and deteriorate hinges. Therefore, you need to avoid keeping your hinges in constant contact with water.

• 4. Tighten the screws and adjust the hinges regularly.

When you find a loose hinge or an uneven door panel, you should immediately tighten the screws in the hinges with a tool and tighten or adjust the hinges to ensure that they do not keep adding to the wear and tear on the fixed door or frame.

• 5. Avoid sharp or hard objects to scratch the surface of hinges.

Never bump the hinges with sharp or hard objects to avoid scratching the plating of the hinges, which will result in rust in the long term.

• 6. Avoid slamming the cabinet doors.

Open and close cabinet doors softly to avoid violent impacts on the hinges and damage to the plating.

• 7. Lubricate the hinges regularly.

If your hinges start to make noise when you open or close the door, then you need to lubricate the hinges. Every 2-3 months, you can regularly maintain your hinges with lubricant to make them open and close smoothly and quietly. The surface of the hinges should also be lubricated to prevent rusting. However, do not add too much lubricant, which can cause oil to drip and stain the cabinets and floor.

• 8. Close the door when not in use.

Try not to leave the doors open for long periods of time.