And now for today's episode of "would you spray paint this?"

[mrs.jacinthe]

Our bathroom vanity cabinet hinges.

They are double-demountable.  Which means they're relatively expensive.  I can buy them online for like $8 a pair or in person and have them on-hand for $8 EACH.  I need 8 total, so I'll be spending somewhere between $32 - $64 (not including tax or shipping) for new hinges.  Technically, I need two vanity's worth, so it would really be more like $64 - $128 pre-tax/shipping.

The alternative is that I can soak them in cleaner for a bit and then spray paint them.  For $8 for a can of spray paint, it seems like a no-brainer, but I don't want them to look tacky or cheap.  Would you spray-paint them or just cough up the money for new ones?

[kermit]

I've spray painted hinges before and I think it looks fine. I'm spray painting all the door hinges now - replacing the knobs but just spraying the hinges. If it really turns out bad you can always buy them.

[Susie]

I would spray paint them, see how it goes, and if it doesn't wear well and you ultimately have to replace, at least you tried, and it didn't cost much.

I haven't done it, but I know people (my parents included) who have. I don't think it'll look tacky/cheap unless it peels/cracks off.

[Deleted]

What are they made out of? What's wrong with them now? Why would they need spray paint at the end of cleaning them up?

[emoflamingo]

May 3, 2013 13:45:48 GMT -5 Susie said:

I would spray paint them, see how it goes, and if it doesn't wear well and you ultimately have to replace, at least you tried, and it didn't cost much.

I haven't done it, but I know people (my parents included) who have. I don't think it'll look tacky/cheap unless it peels/cracks off.

Ditto.

[mrs.jacinthe]

May 3, 2013 13:46:22 GMT -5 @juno said:

What are they made out of? What's wrong with them now? Why would they need spray paint at the end of cleaning them up?

They're pretty hefty, so I'm guessing solid brass.  The finish, which *was* polished brass, is wearing off so they look like crap.  The cleaning was to get the grease and 20 years worth of ick off (ew, why is there grease all over bathroom hinges?) before spray painting.  Brass doesn't do anything for me, design-wise, at all.  Under any circumstances.  So it's replace or paint.  

[Deleted]

You can also price out plating them to whatever finish you want, which I think would be more durable than paint. Just look for a plating shop. We did a bunch of stuff in our bathroom to polished nickel at a local shop, but I don't remember how much it was. But I also don't think attempting paint and then replacing if it doesn't work is a bad idea.

[OrangeBanana]

I have painted hinges before and they all turned out just fine. Heck I did the door knobs to match and a year later they still look good. I only painted the door knobs because I wanted to hold off buying new ones for a few months and they still look good so I'm not buying new ones for a while. The hinges are wearing very well. Just be sure to let the paint cure well.