Replacing Rusty Kitchen Cabinet Hinges

While renovating your kitchen during home renovation operation in Singapore you have to take care of a number of items like proper working of the drawers and doors of the kitchen cabinets as after long time they get weak due to rust. Sometimes people paint the hinges to avoid their rusting but that is not a permanent and desirable solution as you will have to remove paint from them every time you repaint your home. So if you are living in a home since many years then sooner or later you will have to repair or replace the kitchen cabinet hinges along with the hinges of other door and windows which have stopped working being rusty.

It can increase your cost of renovation if you have to replace all the rusty hinges in your home. Cleaning the rust from these hinges can be one of the cost effective ways to renovate your kitchen as it will also prevent the rusting of the hinges in future otherwise the replacement of rusty kitchen cabinet hinges will be inevitable for you.

Cleaning the light amount of rust
People usually do not care when the upper surface of the metal hinges start rusting as it does not hinder the operations of the cabinet doors. But when the hinges start squeaking during their operation then it is due to the development of rust or drying out of their interior portion. In such cases one should inspect the hinges visually to know the amount of rust hindering their operation. It dark orange or brown colored patches appear on the surface of the hinges and can be rubbed off gently then the amount of rust can be considered as light which can be removed easily to prevent the damage to the hinges.

The rusty kitchen cabinet hinges with smaller amount of rust on their surface can be cleaned easily by using:
Steel wool:
It can remove rust from the surface of the hinges made of any metal. You can find steel wool in various grades from fine to extra harsh thickness of its fibre. You can use steel wool basic grade to remove slightly rusty hinges.

Engine oil:
In order to protect the kitchen cabinet hinges along with the hinges of other doors and windows from getting rusty some people use engine oil. This oil is an easily available and cheaper option of preventing rust in the hinges of any installation as it does not dry and keep them usable for long time. You should clean the hinge with a rag after removing rust by pouring engine oil on them.

Cleaning highly rusty hinges
Sometimes the hinges of your kitchen cabinet, which has not been used and has become inoperative since long, have higher amount of rust on them. It can be due to deep penetration of the rust into the upper surface of their metal. By look deep rust resembles to light rust but it can cause structural problems in the hinges. They can be cleaned by using:

Household cleaners:
The cleaners used in your home for cleaning the spots of lime and calcium can also be used to clean rusty kitchen cabinet hinges. A diluted solution of these cleaners in 50:50 ratio with water can be poured on the hinges and allow it to penetrate through them. Now you can use steel wool to scrap out the rust from upper surface of the hinges. You can increase the ratio of cleaner in the solution if earlier solution is not much effective on the rust. You can also soak hinges after removing them into the solution of vinegar and water for this purpose. If the rust is too dense then you can repeat the process several times to get rid of the rust completely.

When to replace kitchen cabinet hinges
You should replace rusty kitchen cabinet hinges only when you are unable to clean their rust completely or they start cracking or warping when opened or closed. Though it is easy to find replacement hinges as they are made of standard sizes but still you should choose them carefully similar to the type of hinges already used in your kitchen cabinet to avoid unnecessary efforts and cost of installing them.

Choosing the replacement hinges
While purchasing hinges to replace rusty kitchen cabinet hinges you will have to consider the type of doors used on them earlier as various types of hinges are available in the market including overlay hinges, inset hinges, frame-less hinges, face-frame hinges and non-mortised hinges etc. So it is good to consider the type of the door of kitchen cabinet to find suitable hinges from lots of options available otherwise you will have to amend the doors according to the type of the hinges.

Overlay hinges:
If the doors were installed on the face of the cabinet then this type of hinges can be used to replace rusty kitchen cabinet hinges. They are mounted on the back of the door and inside the cabinet. In this way they are fully concealed hinges.

Face frame hinges:
These hinges are liked due to their three way adjustable operation. You can adjust the position of the door in height, distance between the face and the door and the overlay by installing these hinges. Another option of the hinges of this type is concealed hinges.

Other options of the hinges which can be used for replacing rusty kitchen cabinet hinges may include:

Cup hinges for which you will have to drill a cup hole of the back of the cabinet door to adjust the cup of the hinge.

Invisible spring hinge which are a bit tricky to install but need no drilling

Overlay hinges which can be seen partially after installation

Inset hinges which can be used to cover the non-mortise for the cabinets with face frame or frameless cabinets. But they are not concealed fully as they are partly visible from the front.

Non mortise inset hinges used for frame-less cabinets are fully concealable. You need not cut wood to install them.

Thus after choosing suitable replacement hinges you can easily replace rusty kitchen cabinet hinges while renovating your kitchen in Singapore with the help of a professional service provider.