When we started remodeling our house one of the things that I found was most of the hardware in the house was lazily painted over by previous owners.
Hinges, doorknobs, vent covers, you name it… Everything was painted over and was the same color as the walls.
There are options to just replace the hardware for some items, but the vents and hinges were things I really wanted to try and save. The vents are specialty sizes in our house and I couldn’t find the right sized replacement options. Plus the ones we had in the house are WAYYYY cooler than anything I could find online. So with some trial and error, I set out to find the best way to remove the paint from all of the vent covers and hinges. Here are the supplies you will need.
Materials
- Pure Acetone. I use THIS brand and it has worked amazing.
- A sturdy bowl to soak things in, that is NOT used for food.
- A pair of rubber gloves to protect your hands
- A wire brush for cleaning and scrubbing
- OPTIONAL- Spray paint in the color you wish to repaint them
- OPTIONAL- Rub n Buff in Antique Gold color
Step 1: Acetone bath
The first step is to pour the acetone into the bowl. Depending on the size of the metal you are restoring the bowl size will vary. The item needs to be completly submerged for this method to work.
I tried using other paint removers like the orange one, or other brands, but I did not see success with them. Even after applying heavy coats of these materials, and covering in plastic wrap to try and prevent it drying out too quick, it still only really removed the top outmost layer. That might work for some restorations, but the items I was restoring had several layers of paint on them and needed a ton of removal.
After submerging the item in the acetone, it needs to sit for about 5 min. Its kinda fun to watch. The paint just bubbles right off the piece and lifts everywhere. On some items my bowl was not large enough for them, so I did the pieces in two parts flipping them over after 5 minutes.
Step 2: Wire Brush
The next step is where you will need your rubber gloves.
Gently remove the metal pieces from the acetone bath, careful not to drip on any important surfaces.
Then I take the item to my sink, and grab my wire brush. After rinsing, I removed my rubber gloves since they were big and bulky. Totally your call here.
I gently scrub the item removing any of the paint that lifted during the acetone bath. It will be a little gummy and sticky in some spots. Paper towels are great to have on hand for this too.
Step 3: Re- finish
This step is optional. Once you remove all of the paint, maybe you like the metal that is under it, and don’t feel a need to paint it. This was the case for the hinges I restored. There were already a nice gold toned brass color, which is what I wanted against black doors. I did use rub n’ buff to enhance and even out the color tone a little. It has held up great, and gave it just the right amount of pop.
For the vent covers I re-did, it was a little different. There were 4 layers of paint that I could count. The paint layers ranged from cream, white, and even a nice light green color ( ew.) I wanted them to look classy, but also wasn’t a huge fan of them just blending into the wall. The design was so unique I thought making them contrast against the wall would be a cooler option. So I opted to spray them black. Once the black spray paint dried, I sealed it with a coat of clear paint in satin. It has held up for over a year now and looks great against the wall. Getting all of the layers of paint and gunk off of them, you can really see the shape better now. I am so happy with the result.
I look forward to re-doing a few more pieces for the bathroom remodel I am working on. Ill update with a post about that as soon as I do them too.
Thanks for stopping by. Let me know if you try this, and what worked for you!
-Amanda