Door hinge lube

Some great responses here. Thanks very much guys for responding! I am going to try some of your suggestions out.
 
Look for something called Open Gear Lube.. get it in a spray. As a mater of fact any penetrating spray lube will work fine. Stay away from while lithium grease. That stuff dries up over time, in cold temperatures it can become a solid. It also seems to attract dirt for some reason.

When looking at a grease we need to understand that a "grease" is a poor lubricant until it reaches operating temperature. You can't see it in your wheel bearings and other areas but what happens is when the heat in the bearing builds up the grease liquefies releasing the oils that are in suspension. These oils do the lubricating. Greases are used in other areas where they serve more as media to displace air and moisture. At low speeds greases can provide some wear resistance.

When using a grease in a low speed application you want to use the THINNEST grease available. There are some lithiums and molys are liquid like at room temperatures.

I prefer using a spray lubricant that is not a grease but an oil, or a dry lubricant such as spray Molly or graphite.

An old trick to lubricate components with dry lubes like graphite is to make the bottle of graphite lube and mix it with alcohol or some type of light solvent. Put that in a spray bottle and spray it onto bushings, into locks, on hinges. The solvent will wick into the spaces and will flash off leaving the dry lubricant behind.
 
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amc31b said:
The liquid white lithium grease that comes in a spray can is usually best for door hinges. Spray all the hinges, rollers, ect well and then wipe any excess with a paper towel or old shop rag. Lubing door hinges is usually only needed every few years if done properly.
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Yes, but anything more than a thin film on the nylon rollers and any grease or oil coming out from the hinge bearing surfaces leads to that grunge we've all seen. I once spent a lot of time digging out old, caked waxy grease and grunge on a car I'd bought, with benzine and pieces of cloth over a little screwdriver. Then it was never a problem again, because instead that door lube stick wax stuff, I just used some spray oil and wiped off the excess.
 
Cat ji... Funny but you could even use cooking oil that comes in a spray can. It would be better then white lithium.
 
Shiny Lil Detlr said:
It would drive the lasting lubrication out of the hinges and actually dry them out after a while. It's counterproductive.

You don't want to use penetrating oil for protection in the long term.
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Oh, ok. Thanks Charlie

Glad I don't run into to many sqeaky doors :p
 
I've used WD40 on door hinges since it was invented. It worked for me.
 
Cat ji said:
Yes, but anything more than a thin film on the nylon rollers and any grease or oil coming out from the hinge bearing surfaces leads to that grunge we've all seen. I once spent a lot of time digging out old, caked waxy grease and grunge on a car I'd bought, with benzine and pieces of cloth over a little screwdriver. Then it was never a problem again, because instead that door lube stick wax stuff, I just used some spray oil and wiped off the excess.
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Yes that is why I recommend you wipe off the excess and only do this every few years at most (if even that often really). A lot of people here have already made a very good point. How often do you really see stiff, squeaky, car doors? Especially on today's cars with much lighter doors and better designed hinges?
 
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