Door Handles & Ironmongery Cleaning Advice

When cleaning , certain pieces of furniture sometimes get missed or overlooked, and your door handles are probably one of these missed items, but if you think about how often you use the door handles around your house they are probably in need of a good clean!
Different materials have different cleaning methods, so spend a few minutes reading this article if you want your handles to look their best.

Brass – a popular choice within homes today. Nearly all brass door handles anf furniture is coated with a clear lacquer which protects the brass and the door handle. To clean brass use a soft cloth and warm water to dust them on a regular basis. After dusting you can polish the brass with a thin coat of wax polish to give it a real shine, this can be done once a week. Never use an abrasive material or cleaner on brass.
Stainless Steel – stainless steel is a very hardy and robust material which will outlast most other materials. To clean use a soft cloth, warm water and a mild cleaning solution, if blemishes persist try adding a bit of vinegar to see if that helps.
Chrome – chrome has become a popular choice among householders and you can choose from a wide range of door handle designs in polished chrome, satin brushed chrome, or matt chrome. Chrome door handles are considered one of the easiest to maintain, however the finish can be damaged or scratched easily and simply need a soft cloth and a wax polish to keep them clean and in tip top shape. As with brass, never use abrasive cleaners to clean chrome.

Regular cleaning and maintaining of your door handles not only keeps them looking nice and shiny but also improves the life span of your door handles which means keeping the cost down to you, that’s worth a bit of polish isn’t it?

How to select the right door handles for you

It might seem a bit obvious at first, but as soon as you start looking around you will be confronted by literally thousands of different door handles and knobs to choose from. Each of these handles and knobs will come in a selection of finishes, satin stainless steel, polished stainless steel, aluminium, brass, chrome, bronze, pewter and even occasionally gold plated! So, how do we choose the right handle?
First you need a budget. Set yourself a minimum and a maximum price you are prepared to pay. Why set a minimum? I hear you say. Simple, you will probably handle your door handles dozens of times a day, hundreds of times a week, and many thousands of times a year so if you buy something that’s cheap you could find yourself having to replace it a lot sooner than you expected.
Having decided a sensible price range, think about the style of your home, or how you want it to appear. A Dickensian thatched cottage may not be the best place for polished stainless steel cutting edge door furniture and likewise a brand new, state of the art penthouse apartment would probably not benefit from black iron antique furniture.
Then consider who is going to handle the door furniture. If you have young children you may find that brass or chrome handles need to be constantly cleaned where grubby little hands have left smear marks or worse. Satin stainless steel is probably your best bet here, and if your home is near the sea/river or in open countryside then you will gain the added benefit of stainless steels resistance to weathering- have you ever noticed how brass or chrome handles lose their shine and discolour?
Again bearing children in mind, try to avoid handles with pointed or sharp edges on them, door handles are fitted at about the same height as the average 2 year-olds eyes.
Potential users with restrictive movement in the hands may find knob furniture difficult to operate and would benefit from having a lever instead. If the user has limited sight try to avoid handles that are similar in finish to the door on which they are to be fitted (i.e. don’t use aluminium handles on white doors or brass on light timbers)
So, now we have narrowed it down from a couple of thousand to perhaps 20 or so choices, much more manageable. The rest is up to you and your personal preferences