How to Remove Old Paint from Hardware

 I think this is possibly my favorite household cheat that I have found on Pinterest so far. Its super easy, nontoxic and even relatively quick.

Most of the windows and doors in our home have been painted countless times and unfortunately from the looks of it, people who were doing said painting rarely took the time to remove any of the hardware before going at it. 

Since I was doing some painting in the kitchen, and would have to remove the hardware anyways, I thought I would give this a try. You can see that the locking mechanism and handle to our kitchen window were in rough shape.

Pretty nasty, huh?

Using my small snack sized crock-pot, I heated up enough water to submerge each of the parts. Once the water was good and hot, I threw in all of the pieces and let them soak for about a half an hour.

When I fished out each of the parts they looked about the same but when I went to rinse them off the old paint came away easily with just a little rubbing. I used a steel brush to get the stubborn bits out of any tight crevices...and tada!

They look almost new! I am so glad I found this as most of the hardware upstairs has the same problem. Here's the original link for the pin, or you could just follow me on Pinterest  :)