Restoring black exterior door hardware

A. As a stopgap to keep the doorknob from rusting any more I'd go ahead and wax it, if it is cast iron it will take a bit to work it into the metal (sweat it out later on in an oven if you can think of a better sealant). I'm going to check with Bill to see if he has any other suggestions.

A. Well after a bit of a chat, it turns out I was right, most Victorians would have waxed the doorknob while it was still warm. Probably using beeswax =>
(you can use commercial paste wax in a pinch). Just wire brush off the rust (or 00 steel wool [on eBay or Amazon] ) and let the piece warm in the sun. Then apply the wax.

A. Hi Karen. There are a lot of things that are black, and a lot of things that are called door hardware, so it's hard to guess what the finish is. If you are talking about hinges and heavy items like that, my guess is they are painted, and should be repainted. If you're talking about the doorhandle/lockset it is probably some sort of plating and/or physical vapor deposition that you are not going to be able to duplicate yourself.

I would suggest trying a thin single-component clearcoat like Everbrite [a finishing.com supporting advertiser], or if the item is small enough you can try car wax [on eBay or Amazon] . The idea being that sometimes such metal acquires fading due to a microscopic roughness that starts developing with wear; and getting a smooth finish on it again can restore the look. Everbrite suggests a really simple test: just wet the area with water -- if being wet reduces the fading, then a clearcoat may restore it; if being wet doesn't help, don't bother :-)

Regards,

Thanks for your reply, Ted. Sorry I didn't specify what the hardware is. It's a door handle and lock set. I just tried the "wet test" and sure enough, it improved the look! So I'm off to purchase Everbrite and bring life back to my front door hardware!

Thanks so very much for your help! I really do appreciate it!