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How to Fix Squeaky Doors: 10 Fixes to Squeaking Doors

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Squeaky doors can be annoying. Plus, it can give your home a haunted feel which you really do not need. If you are looking to solve the problem of squeaky doors, you should be able to resolve your issue with things that you find in your own home or easily purchased from a hardware store. 

 


What you need is some form of lubricant. The squeak of the door originates from the hinges and happens when there isn’t sufficient lubrication on them. You can use some olive oil, butter, paraffin candles, petroleum jelly or simply some soap.

 

The squeak could also be caused due to the build up of dirt and rust on the door hinge. In order to fix this, you would have to clean the pin of your door hinge, prior to lubricating it.   

 


Here is our list of 10 fixes that you can try at home to stop your doors from squeaking. 

 

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1. Steel Wool

Your door may be squeaky because of rust or dirt. If you have either of these things on your door hinge, simply lubricating it won’t resolve the issue. You have to use something to remove the dirt and rust first.

 


First, check your door hinges for discolouration. Use a nail and hammer to remove the pin from the hinge and check for rust. Once the pin is out, use some diluted household cleaner with a ball of steel wool to remove the stubborn dirt and rust spots. 

 


Make sure to remove all the dirt, rust and residual paint by rubbing the pin in circular motions. Once you have cleaned the pin, you want to then use some lubricant such as melted wax, oil or any of the other lubricants on this list. 

 


Place the pin back in the hinge and move the door once or twice. Open and close the door to allow the hinge to move, allowing for the lubricant to spread inside the hinge. This should work against the hardest of squeaks to fix. 

 

 

 

2. Olive Oil

Olive oil is a great lubricant that works really well on door hinges. It is easy to apply and trickles into various parts of the hinge with ease. It is for certain one of the better options that does not require you to take the hinge apart. 

 


Simply take some olive oil and use a dropper to drop a few drops at a time on the hinge. Allow the oil to be absorbed by the hinge and you can try adding a few more drops after that. Add as much oil as you deem necessary and test the door to see if it squeaks.

 


If you find that the door is still squeaking, add a few more drops. Add a few drops and move your door to allow the oil to trickle in. You should see the squeaking reduce with additional drops of olive oil. 

 


You don’t have to take the hinge apart. Simply keep adding oil and keep moving the door to allow the oil to seep into the hinge. 

 

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3.  Butter

Butter is another readily available lubricant that works really well on door hinges. It is easy to apply. However, you want to ensure that you don’t use butter straight out of the fridge. Allow the butter to soften. This will allow it to nicely glide into the hinge and lubricate it. 

 


Simply apply a little bit of butter on the hinge and move the door to allow it to get absorbed into various parts of the hinge. You may want to repeat this a few times to allow the butter to properly get absorbed into the hinge. 

 

If this does not work, you would want to use a nail (8d finish nail) and hammer to remove the pin of the hinge. Place the nail on one side of the hinge pin and hammer it out. The pin should come out the other side. Once the pin is out, you would want to apply butter on all surfaces of the pin prior to replacing the pin on the door hinge. Open and close the door a few times to allow the butter to spread within the hinge. 

 


Once the butter works its magic, the hinge will be properly lubricated and you should be well on your way to a squeak-free entrance. 

 


4. Paraffin Candles

The petroleum-based wax in paraffin candles works well to lubricate door hinges and quieten them. You have to ensure that you use a paraffin candle for this, for it has to be petroleum wax-based. 

 


Simply light a candle and allow the heat to soften the wax. You will have to remove the hinge pin from the door. For this, you can use an 8d finish nail or another size based on the size of your hinge pin. Keep the nail on one side of the hinge pin and tap the nail with a hammer, allowing the hinge pin to come out the other side. 

 


Once you have the hinge pin out, carefully drop the candle wax on the pin. Make sure to cover the surface of the entire pin with wax. Be careful though, the wax can get hot and you don’t want to burn yourself. 

 


After applying the wax to the pin, replace the pin on the hinge with a hammer and your door should be squeaking free. 

 

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5. Petroleum Jelly

Much like the petroleum wax from the paraffin candles, petroleum jelly works really well to lubricate door hinges too. You would have to follow the same procedure that you followed with the paraffin candles. 

 


You will have to take the pin out of the hinge prior to applying the petroleum jelly. Once again, you can use a nail and hammer for this. Simply place the nail on one side of the hinge pin and tap with a hammer to allow the pin to come out the other side. 

 


Once you have the pin out, apply the petroleum jelly on the pin and slide the pin back into the hinge and hammer it back into place. The petroleum jelly should be working and the door hinges should be well lubricated to prevent any squeaking. 

 


6. Bar Soap

If nothing else, you should have a bar of soap around the house. However, you do have to make sure that the soap that you are using for this purpose is not glycerine. 

 


The bar soap can be applied on the hinge without you having to take the pin out. First, try this. Simply take a slightly dampened bar of soap and apply the soap on the hinges. Move the door and allow the soap to fall into place and lubricate the entire hinge. If the squeaking continues, apply a little more soap and move the door once again to allow the soap to properly lubricate the hinge. 

 


If this does not work, you would have to take the pin out of the hinge and lubricate it separately. For this, once again, you can use a nail and hammer. Simply place the nail on one side of the pin and tap with a hammer to allow it to come out the other side. 

 


Once the pin is out, simply cover the entire surface of the pin with soap and slide the pin back into the hinge with a hammer. There should now be sufficient lubrication on the hinge to prevent it from squeaking. 

 

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7. Hairspray

Hairspray can be an easy way to stop a door from squeaking. You don’t have to take the hinge apart and it can be very quick to apply. 

 


Hairspray contains polymers that create a seal around the door hinge to stop it from loosening and moving about which causes the squeaking. You want to spray the hinge a few times and move the door. Open and close the door a few times to allow the hairspray to get properly absorbed into all parts of the hinge. 

 


This should work to stop the squeaking and resolve your issue. Hairspray is considered one of the easiest ways to fix a squeaky door. It is fast, reliable and effective. 

 


8. Silicone Spray

Silicone spray is amazing when it comes to fixing squeaky hinges and is widely available in stores. Silicone spray does not contain mineral oils and grease, which makes it safe to use on a variety of surfaces, including plastic, rubber and metal. 

 


Though it is easy to spray the hinge without taking the pin out, which you can try, it is best to take the pin out using a nail and hammer and spray the pin for proper lubrication. Make sure to spray the hinge too, not just the pin. 

 


Once you have sprayed both the pin and the hinge, you can replace the pin back into the hinge using a hammer and open and close the door a few times to allow the lubricant to properly reach all the surfaces of the hinge. This should work to resolve the squeaking. 

 

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9. Lithium Grease

Lithium grease is another good option that you can use to solve squeaking hinges. You want to take the pin out of the hinge using a nail and hammer and apply the lithium grease directly on the pin.

 


The lithium grease on the pin will work to properly lubricate the hinge and allow for unhampered movement. However, you may want to check the pin for dirt or rust before applying the grease. Simply applying the grease without clearing out the dirt or rust won’t help to stop the squeaking. 

 


If there is any dirt or rust on the pin, you want to use a ball of steel wool with a household cleaner to clean the pin before lubricating it.

 

Once lubricated, replace the pin into the hinge and you should have a non-squeaky door.  

 


10. GT85

This is an amazing solution for lubricating door hinges. GT85 is particularly great for lubricating door hinges because it contains a PTFE silicone element that is specially equipped for lubrication. 

 


You can squirt a little GT85 into the hinge and it will work to remove any dirt and dust that was built up inside. It also works to leave behind a thin layer of lubricant to resolve any squeaks that may be originating from your door hinge. 

 

You don’t have to take the hinge apart to use GT85. Simply squirt some GT85 onto the hinge and open and close the door a few times to allow it to lubricate all surfaces of the hinge. 

 

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What is the Best Lubricant to Use to Stop a Squeaky Door?

When you have a squeaky door, it could be due to the lack of lubricant on the door hinge. It could also be due to the build-up of dirt and rust on the door hinges. Hence, the first thing that you would want to do is check the hinge for rust or dirt. If you notice the build-up of dirt or rust, you want to remove the pin from the hinge using a nail and hammer and clean the pin using a ball of steel wool and some household cleaner. 

 


Once you have a clean pin, you are ready to lubricate. When it comes to picking the best lubricant from the job, though all the lubricants on this list work well, some are considered better than others. Silicon spray is cheap and easy to apply and makes less of a mess when compared to for instance, lithium grease. Hence, silicon spray could quite easily be the best lubricant that you can go with. 

 


If you don’t have silicon spray, petroleum jelly is a good option to go with. Petroleum jelly,  hair spray and olive oil all come as close seconds when you are trying to resolve squeaky doors. 

 


That being the case, lubricating the hinge may be a temporary solution, especially if your door is really old and is at the end of its lifespan. A squeaky door can also be caused by a badly fitted door. In either cases, you would have to rehang the door or replace the hinges to fix the squeak. 

 

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What You Shouldn’t Use to Fix Squeaky Doors

Though the things that you should not use to fix squeaky doors are endless (like you don’t want to use barbeque sauce on your hinges), you especially don’t want to use WD 40.

 


WD 40 is not a good option when it comes to fixing squeaky doors. The reason for this is the fact that it is not good for lubricating door hinges. The main purpose of WD 40 is as a cleaner and a water displacer. Though it does contain a very small amount of lubricants, using WD 40 will more likely lead to the hinge attracting dirt, which would make the problem even worse. 

 


Hence, though you may be inclined to think that WD 40 could help fix a squeaking door, it could actually work to make matters worse. Hence, we do not recommend that you use WD 40 on your door hinges. 

 

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How to Fix Squeaky Doors

In order to fix squeaky doors, you want to fix ensure that there is no dirt or rust on the pin of the hinge. If there is dirt or rust on the pin, you want to clean it with a ball of steel wool before lubricating it with oil, grease or petroleum jelly. This should work to resolve the squeaking and fix the issue. 

 


Squeaky doors are not difficult to fix. So long as you apply some good lubricant to the hinges, you should be able to resolve the issue quite easily. 

 


Within this article, we have set out 10 ways through which you could work to fix the squeak on your doors. You don’t have to try them all, but one or the other should be easy enough for you to try and should work for you. 

 


We hope you found this article useful and that reading this word to word has helped you resolve your squeaky door issue. 

 


Happy Fixing!

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