Windsor Terrace Reno

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February 7, 2007

Boiling doorknobs ala Martha

Once again, thank you martha stewart. How can I have lived my whole life without knowing that you can boil the paint off? Not that I've had a lot of occassion to put this tip into use, it still seems like something simple enough that should be common knowledge. After much dremeling the paint off the screws, fiddling with too big screwdriver head to unscrew too small screws, prying plates and such, I was left with a nice little collection of doorknobs and plates from the 2nd floor.

Got a pot (that will now be used for noxious chemical projects only), threw in some baking soda and set to simmer. Put in a few of the plates and crossed my fingers. After 30 minutes of simmering, the clear water was a mucky soup of blue, green and cream paint.

I couldn't tell if it was working or not. But the optimist in me set up a workspace next of paper plates, paper towels and toothbrush to be ready to work fast on each piece before it cooled. After fishing one out with dandy doorknob retrival device (a twisted coat hanger), the paint just slid right off with a paper towel and some running water! Magic!! It took a little handwork with toothpicks to get the stubborn paint out of some of the crevases but it did come totally clean!
Now I have a bowl full of patina'd plates and knobs along with a new cooking skill. Sweet.

postscript:
Yes, I admit Im a fan of Martha. A big fan. Actually, Im more a fan of all the fabulous projects her staff do in her name...but I've got to give credit to the big M herself. So if you are a Martha hater, be warned - I will be mentioning various projects stolen from her media empire often.

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Comments

Wow- this is amazing! I love your blog, you have a challenge ahead of you, good luck with this!! (I love M too!!)

Posted by: Anonymous at February 8, 2007 9:08 AM

I just can't believe it!!!!!!!!!!!!!! This is the best news I've heard in months! Now I know how I'll spend my weekend. I'm a secret Martha fan too. Great blog, BTW.

Posted by: dt at February 8, 2007 11:40 AM

Next time try this .

Fill a pot with white vinegar

Put whatever it is your trying to clean in there over night . The next morning take your things out . Watch the paint fall off . .

Posted by: eletricgreek at February 8, 2007 9:37 PM

Would this work with old wooden knobs as well?

Posted by: Anonymous at February 9, 2007 11:22 AM

geek - Interesting about the vinegar. I'll have to try that.

anon - You shouldn't put anything made of wood in water. It might get the paint off but the wood would warp/swell.

Posted by: Mrs. Limestone at February 9, 2007 11:46 AM

re: 11:22AM commenter.

Are you serious?

Posted by: AnonymousNegro at February 9, 2007 1:16 PM

How did you get the plates of in the first place? i.e. Did you just scrape the paint off the little screws?

Thanks!

Posted by: Thirty-year-old Secretary at February 9, 2007 1:29 PM

If this works for me like it worked for you, I will finally find it in my heart to forgive Martha for trying to upstage Ms. Julia Child in an on-air tart-making demo.

Posted by: Brenda from Flatbush at February 9, 2007 1:38 PM

Thirty year secretary - I used a wire brush on the dremel (just a 1/2 second on each) to get the excess paint off. Sometimes I needed to use a razor to cut the paint out of the tiny little flat head opening on the screws. Then unscrewed and popped off. It a little time consuming but pretty simple thanks to Mr. Limestone's insistance we buy a dremel.

Brenda - Im glad I brough you over from the dark side of Martha hating :)

Posted by: Mrs. Limestone at February 9, 2007 4:28 PM

And what about the glass doorknob do they will break if the water is to hot ??????

Posted by: Anonymous at February 9, 2007 7:57 PM

I was concerned about the glass knobs too but I did one as a test first and it works on them too. No signs of cracking or damage so I did the rest and they were all fine.

Posted by: Mrs. Limestone at February 9, 2007 11:09 PM

Just don't inhale. That's lead paiint.

Posted by: Suzy, Kline Realty at February 10, 2007 8:21 AM

my mom has always taken the paint off hardware by soaking it in a combo of cascade & water overnight. It has worked pretty well every time I have done it.

Posted by: habble at February 11, 2007 3:54 PM

Cascade dissolved lead. Would make the process a bit safer.

Posted by: Anonymous at February 12, 2007 10:16 AM

Maybe Im just a pessimist but I don't think this many layers of oil and latex would come off in cascade. But I'll give it a try. That would be even easier than boiling.

Posted by: Mrs. Limestone at February 12, 2007 12:39 PM

To those worried about lead fumes, at one atmosphere the boiling point of lead is 1749 °C, the boiling point of water is 100 °C. Boiling the knobs in water is much safer that using solvents. It might even be safer than touching water with dish soap in it.

Posted by: danielk at February 12, 2007 9:57 PM

Thanks DanielK...i was getting a bit worried with all the alarmists warning me to be careful. (although Im getting 1000x more exposure when Im scraping dry paint off in the house).

Anyone try the vinegar/cascade/water methods this weekend? Curious to see how they work in comparison to the boiling.

Posted by: Mrs. Limestone at February 13, 2007 8:08 AM

Talking about renovating on a budget... a little more than a month in and you have already been reduced to eating Door Knob Soup.

Posted by: Imby at February 13, 2007 6:48 PM

Wow, beautiful!!

I also appreciate your photos, and chronicling everything. What fun this blog is to read.

Best,
fd

Posted by: Anonymous at March 2, 2007 4:30 PM

Unless it's exterior trim, the odds are it isn't lead. Lead paint was primarily used in exterior applications and some windows.

Posted by: Anonymous at March 13, 2007 2:02 PM