Spray Paint Your Old Door Knobs

Hello friends! How are you all holding up during your social distancing? I've been on a DIY whirlwind lately since I've been cooped up, but I guess that's not to far off from my normal life lol! Alright so I have yet another DIY to share with you guys today that will help update your old door knobs in an easy way! I get asked a lot about how I spray paint my old door handles so I figured I would put together a full post dedicated to how I painted all of door knobs and hinges, and how they are holding up today. Is it a forever solution? No it's not, but it will give you a good 5 years and you guys know me I love transforming the things I already have with the purpose of creating a big impact with little cost. So grab a few supplies when the time is right, or better yet order form Amazon and get it delivered so you can stay at home as much as possible and lets get spray painting together!

Tip!

*I've learned a lot from my 15 years of being an esthetician and nail tech. The key to long lasting nails when I would either do regular manicures or artificial gels is all in the quality base coat, middle coat and top coat. You absolutely need these 3 key steps in order to have good adhesion. If you skip the base coat or just feel like not worrying about the top sealer coat, I can guarantee your paint job will not last nearly as long. So why not take the extra couple steps since you are all set up anyways and do it correct the first time!

Supplies Needed:

• 1 Can of Primer *Update I have experimented with primers and the best one is this one, and even though it's white, that's totally fine!

• 1 Can of colour spray paint, in the sheen of your choosing (I always go with matte)

• 1 Can of Sealer, I also use matte

• Scrub brush

• Degreaser like Dawn dish soap

• Sanding sponge in 220 grit

• Old box, styrofoam blocks or toilet paper cardboard rolls

• Plastic Drop Cloth

• Micro fibre cloth or dusting rags

Step 1:

Alright so let's get started guys. Remove all your oldies, wether it be the hinges or the door knobs, remove them all and make sure you set the original screws to the side in a place where you will remember where they go. Place them all in a sink with soapy hot water. I use a few good squirts of Dawn dish soap and really scrub them clean.

Step 2:

Let them air dry and really shake them outside or above the sink to be sure all the air is out of the interior of the door knobs before you get painting. Bring them outside or in a space where it's well ventilated. Lay some plastic sheets down on the surface you will be working on (ignore my photos, and lack of drop cloth, I sometimes forget my own advice lol) Once you think they are fully dried, take your sponge sander and give each piece a quick sand just to rough up the surfaces a bit. When you sanding is done, wipe them all off with a rag or better yet a micro fibre cloth to get the dust off. Then grab an old box, some styrofoam blocks, or eve toilet paper rolls to prop them up into. With the hinges, all I do is bend them to a V to prop them up right.

Step 3:

Now you are all ready to start spray painting. First product you are going to use is your primer. Try to match your primer to the colour you are going to spray paint, if you can't find a matching primer, white is also fine. Your primer doesn't need to be thick or fully cover the old colour, (in my case the gold), but you just want it to be lightly applied so that you know it's covering the full piece. Also make sure the under side of the knobs are getting sprayed too. I like to spray them propped up first once in the box, then in a few minutes when they were dry enough to touch I would pull them out and set them on their sides to spray the underside and then straight back up again to set.

In the photo below you can still see the gold underneath, but you can also tell it's all fully and lightly coated. You can apply 2 coats of primer. Be sure to wait the recommended reappliction time on the can before recoating.

Step 4:

Following the same steps in step 3, you can spray your colour coat on now. I wait a bit longer between coats to reapply my 2nd and 3rd coat coat of colour. Again make sure you are spraying the underside when it's dry enough to rotate them to get underneath.

Step 5:

Now all you need is your final top coat! What I love about the matte clear coat is it gives a a flawless sheen. I have tried semi gloss and satins, but nothing is as nice of a finish as the matte I find. I would again apply 3 coats of top coat on making sure to wait proper dry time between coats.

I recommend waiting over night before you put all of your hardware back onto your doors. Your old screws are probably gold or silver so be sure to either spray paint the heads of those too or just purchase them in the matching colour. That's it guys! What an easy an affordable way to give all of your old hardware an instant update!

Update!

I am about 4 years into the first time I spray painted my door knobs. All of the upstairs hallways doors have held up very well, with the exception of a few minor chips on my kids doors and their bathroom door. On our main floor our pantry door was probably the one that was the most worn and chipped on the backside where you pull on the door knob. What I do to touch them all up, is remove all of the chipped ones and give them a good wash again. Then I lightly sand them, dust them off and spray another 2 coats of colour on. I also apply another 2 coats of sealer as well.

As far as the hinges go I have never needed to touch those up and they are still holding up well!

If you are about to spray paint your door knobs, maybe consider painting your doors as well. Check out my post here on how I painted all of my interior doors as well!

Have a wonderful day you guys, stay safe and healthy!

Dale