While taking off our bathroom vanity’s doors to prep for painting (post coming soon!), I noticed just how gross the hinges were.

Side note:  You’ll notice each hinge is labeled. This is to ensure I put them back in the correct spot when I re-attach the cabinet doors. I once didn’t do this when removing door hinges…bad idea. The doors would not close quite right.

After searching “how to clean hinges” on the internet, I decided to go with the warm-water-and-soap technique. The website said to simply soak the hinges in soapy water for a while, scrub a little, and then voila!…clean hinges.

Or white hinges? Look at the picture below. This cleaning technique turned my hinges white!

They looked better before I cleaned them…grrr. On to plan B – vinegar!  I use vinegar to clean just about everything, so why not hinges? I soaked them in distilled white vinegar, scrubbed a little with a toothbrush, rinsed with water, and dried with a towel.

Look at the difference! Soap and water on the left, vinegar on the right.

Please understand, I have no idea if this is the proper way to clean hinges. This is just what worked for me. 🙂 What do you recommend?