DIY Bronze Door Handle Refresh – One Room Challenge Week 2

From Peeling and Ugly to Bright and Beautiful, this DIY bronze front door handle refresh may surprise you! When I set out to upgrade my front door handle, all I wanted was to clean up the gross, peeling coating to reveal the smooth, black surface underneath. Follow along for our entryway makeover on Instagram! If you missed my week 1 post, you can find my entryway inspiration here.

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A little background on our current front door handle. We swapped out all of our exterior door handles when we first moved into our home 5 years ago. All interior doorknobs were a lacquered brass, but we were feeling rustic and chose aged bronze instead. Fast forward a couple of years and the finish coating is peeling off. It’s bubbled, yellowed, and quite ugly. It was not a good sight, but since it matched the peeling paint on the door, I didn’t think much of it. I knew at some point we would get a new door, and I would address the door handle at that point. Don’t judge the horrendous view below…

 

Well, the time has come, the first step in our front entryway remodel was a new door (actually, that’s what spurred this entire project!). Naturally, once the new (used) door was installed, the ugly, peeling door handle became much more apparent.

At first I thought the coating might just peel/flake off, but unfortunately that wasn’t the case. So, I got to work trying different solvents to remove the coating. And that’s when it happened! I took some Goof Off to the door handle, and although the outer coating did not budge, the smooth black coating came off (OOPS!). That revealed the beautiful, coppery metal below it!

To say the least, I was SHOCKED! As it turns out, the “Aged Bronze” doorknob I had purchased was actually bronze (or at least bronze plated!). This spurred an entire new idea to fully strip down the door knob to reveal the beautiful bronze metal underneath. It took quite a bit of experimenting to remove the finish without removing the bronze plating. That process is precisely what I’m going to share with you below.

DIY Refinished Front Door Handle – How to Remove the Coating and Tarnish from a Bronze Door Knob

Supplies Needed:

• Screwdriver
• 0000 Steel Wool
• Citrus Strip (or other paint stripper)
• Mineral Spirits
• Small Paintbrush
• White vinegar (I used this concentrated version)
• Salt
• Flour
• Microfiber towel
• Plastic Wrap
• Nitrile Gloves
• Safety Glasses
• Lacquer (optional)

DIY Refinished Bronze Doorknob Directions:

1. Remove the Front Doorknob

First, remove your front door handle from your door by removing all screws. Pull both sides off the door, and remove the mechanism from the door. Trust me, you don’t want to attempt this with the doorknob on your door. It’s messy and the odds of accidently removing paint from your door is high.

 

2. Strip the Outer Coating from the Door Handle

Use your paintbrush to coat the doorknob with Citrus Strip. This is what worked best to remove the sealant coating from the door handle. Make sure the handle is well coated, then wrap with plastic wrap and let sit for 1-2 hours. You should see the outer coating begin to bubble. At that point, it can be wiped off pretty easily. I had a few stubborn areas that required re-coating with the stripper. The longer I left it, the easier it was to removed. Any tough areas can be scrubbed with the 0000 steel wool to physically break down the surface and remove the finish. Just be careful not to scrub through the metal plating!

This step is crucial in order to get down to the bare metal. Once we move on to the next step, you’ll know if the outer coating is still in some areas because the tarnish will be impossible to remove. Clean off all Citrus Strip residue using mineral spirits before moving on to the next step.

3. Remove the Tarnish to Reveal the Bronze Underneath

Create a vinegar, salt and flour mixture by combining ¼ cup white vinegar (or a 50/50 mix of the 45% vinegar and water) with ¼ cup flour and 1 tbsp salt. The consistency should be similar to a thick cake batter. This mixture is what we’ll use to remove the tarnish from the metal. If using the concentrated vinegar, you may want to dilute it a bit so it’s not so potent.

Apply this mixture to the door handle and let sit for 20-30 minutes. Take your microfiber towel and wipe off the door handle. The tarnish should easily wipe away, revealing the beautiful shiny bronze underneath.

4. Scrub with Steel Wool to Tackle Stubborn Spots

If there are some stubborn spots, first ensure the outer coating is completely removed from these areas. You may need to repeat steps 2 and 3 a few times to get it all off. For any really tough spots, you can scrub with the steel wool to physically remove the coating and tarnish. Be careful how hard you scrub with the steel wool, as the metal plating may be thinner on your door handle than it was on mine.

5. Polish or Lacquer Your DIY Front Door Handle to Preserve the Finish

Once you are happy with the finish, wash off the door handle with water. You can polish your doorknob if you want a shiny, spotless finish and coat with lacquer to keep it that way. I chose to leave the bare metal and allow it to age naturally over time. You can also use that same vinegar/salt mixture to clean it up on occasion if the tarnish builds up too much.

I should also mention, in order to get matching door hinges, I actually just painted my existing door hinges with this metallic paint. It worked amazingly well, and it’s even rated for outdoor use (so you know I’ll be looking for some things to paint bronze/copper!).

What do you think? I was happily surprised with the results I got! I had no idea my aged bronze door handle could be restored back to this beautiful bronze. I absolutely love how the coppery tones play with the green walls.

Check out the other projects on the One Room Challenge blog!