Lubricant Experts... Stop Hinges Squeak

[M4Fundi]

I have a door in the house that the hinges squeak so loud it wakes everyone up at night. Hinges are your normal brushed steel looking hinges probably sold at every ACE or Walmart. Every lube I've tried is gone in 2-6 days. Anything that will be easy, cheap and stay on the hinges?

[chadbag]

I have a door in the house that the hinges squeak so loud it wakes everyone up at night. Hinges are your normal brushed steel looking hinges probably sold at every ACE or Walmart. Every lube I've tried is gone in 2-6 days. Anything that will be easy, cheap and stay on the hinges?

You can get these spray lubes that are made for this sort of thing. I don't remember the names. They also have ones made for garage doors, and stuff. Usually in the same display. That is what I would try.

Lowes, HD, or most real hardware stores should have displays with various sorts of spray lubes.

[Rmplstlskn]

It sounds like the hinges are CANTED and not aligned vertically...

Without fixing that issue, the best solution is to knock the hinge pin out of the hinge and use GREASE on the pin and put it back in.

I have an old house with old hinges, same problem, and the grease fixed them for over a year now...

Rmpl

[Thomas M-4]

Try spray on white lithium grease.

Will add. I pull the hinge pin then spray the pin and spray a little down the pin hole and work it in good.
Also if the pin has some rust on it take some sand paper to it .

[Ned Christiansen]

What's that stuff that's in a breaching round, bismuth? Yeah, bismuth dust but you'll need it to have a running start to make sure it gets in there....... 12 gage, breaching round, contact shot....... no more squeak!

[JSantoro]

I've had good luck with graphite, but if it's squeaking that loudly, it may not be hanging quite right.

Top hinge should carry most of the weight of the door, so see about replacing one or two of the screws that join that hinge to the jamb with 2.5" to 3" length, instead of the 1 to 1-1/4" sissy screws that are usually there. It'll help put the weight of the door on the framing instead of on the jamb, and may change the way the pins are rubbing within all the hinges on the door.

[Scoby]

Make sure your hinges and pins are clean.
As has been suggested, use sandpaper if necessary.

I use "Snow Seal". It's a waterproofing compound I use on leather boots. It is bees wax based. Apply to bearing surfaces of hinges and the entire pin.

It works for me and lasts a long time.

Scoby

[GermanSynergy]

Try Slip 2000.

[bkb0000]

lots of good advice.. rumpl nailed it, sounds like your plates are canted. unfortunately, once the screws are in, you can't really un-cant your plates, because the amount you'd need to move over isn't enough to tap new screw holes. if you wanted to get hard-core about it, you could pull the door and both plates from the jam, fill in the holes with a tappable epoxy, let cure for however long it takes, and re-tap the holes straight.

otherwise, i'd pull the pins and see where it's rubbing. sand the shit out of that spot, then use grease, as suggested, to lubricate the whole assembly. clean out the hinge with q-tips with the solvent/CLP/whatever of your choice, clean the pin, lub both the hinge and the pin, and go from there. this is exactly what i've done a couple few times or two.. usually works.

[bkb0000]

I've had good luck with graphite, but if it's squeaking that loudly, it may not be hanging quite right.

Top hinge should carry most of the weight of the door, so see about replacing one or two of the screws that join that hinge to the jamb with 2.5" to 3" length, instead of the 1 to 1-1/4" sissy screws that are usually there. It'll help put the weight of the door on the framing instead of on the jamb, and may change the way the pins are rubbing within all the hinges on the door.

you have to be careful when screwing into the framework with a hung door.. pulling the plate in will throw the door out of plumb (or put it back into plumb, if it's already out- this is actually a trick we use when fighting cattywompus hung doors into cattywompus frames sometimes). sometimes as little as 1/16" will be the difference between a door that wants to swing on it's own, or a door that catches or rubs the jam during operation. just make sure you check your reveal as you tweek it- it should be even all around.