How can I remove paint from kitchen cabinet hinges w/o removing them?

Pam
by Pam

my "new " home is an older home which has kitchen hardware [hinges] that have been painted over way too many times and when i chip away paint and try to remove screws , they just strip out. sooooo i need to just remove the paint on the visible part of the hinge and paint the doors in place ....any suggestions on how to remove this paint??? maybe a thick stripper , tape off around hinge, and expose hardware?? tried sanding , no luck , tried scraping, not good results.tried using a tool and cutting screws the screws from the cabinet and no luck , ended up marring wood to much .......will be replacing cabinets in future but want to update for now any ideas ????

  5 answers
  • Emily Emily on Aug 02, 2019

    It would be so much more worth your time to get the screws out and the hinges off. Nicole Curtis showed a very good way to get painted hardware clean. You get an old slow cooker and fill it with water, soap and the hardware and let it cook away. If you have an electric drill it may be easier to remove screws. Ask advice from your friendly hardware store and get to know which clerk is best informed. We found it makes a huge difference. Good luck. These are difficult situations, and we all run into them.

  • Mogie Mogie on Aug 02, 2019

    I know this isn't exactly what you wanted to hear but the easiest way to to take the cabinets down and put the hinges in a soapy bath in your crock pot. Several hours marinating in that and the paint should peel off if it hasn't already fallen off in the pot.

  • Gk Gk on Aug 02, 2019

    There's a few tools you can use to remove stripped screws. Here is a little video from Lowe's that shows you how to remove stripped screws. It would be best to move the hardware and give them a hot water bath as suggested by others. The hot water bath does remove the paint very easily. You also might have to put some wood filler in the original holes so that when you put the hardware back on the hardware will stay in place and be tight.

    https://www.lowes.com/n/how-to/remove-a-stripped-or-broken-screw

  • Nan W. Nan W. on Aug 03, 2019

    Pam: sometimes it's just cheaper and simplier to go buy new ones in a bulk pack at Home Depot.

  • Pam Pam on Aug 03, 2019

    problem is i can't get the old one off, screws are stripped out , i think thats why they have been painted over so many times. tried the little tool from Lowes and no luck.....paint chips of hinges when opening and closing, just enough to look unsitely .....looks like I'm in a pickle