The Unexpected Beauty Product That Effectively Silences Squeaky Doors

The sound of a squeaky door in an otherwise quiet scene in a movie usually carries a warning: either the bad guy got inside, someone opened the wrong door by mistake, or there's a rambunctious ghost flinging doors open. In real life, squeaks aren't scary sounding, but they can sure get irritating quickly since that aggravating sound is usually metal on metal. Fortunately, you can make it stop. You probably already have an unexpected ingredient sitting in your boudoir right now that will shush the squeak: a can of hairspray. 

Much as it "seals" your hair in place, hairspray contains polymers, a fixative that can also act as a sealant on a hinge. Hairspray will temporarily tighten up loose parts within a hinge, cutting down on their movement and, thus, their squeaking. Spritz some hairspray directly on the hinges that need help, and wave the door open and closed a few times to work in the spray. You should notice that it works right away, and if there's still a tiny sound, repeat with another round of spray. If you're spraying a door hinge that's close to the ground, you can remove sticky hairspray residue from the floor with some borax and water.

There are three main reasons door hinges get squeaky. Most commonly, they've lost their lubrication, and the parts are grating and scraping against each other. Or there's a buildup of dust, grime, or dirt that's causing the trouble. The third reason is that a part could have become bent, loose, or warped, in which case, you'd need to get it repaired or tightened since lubricating a bent piece won't do much to fix it.

Although a squeaky hinge is hard to ignore, we actually do become accustomed to the beeps, squeaky floors, and other noises our house makes every day. But if we've got guests coming over, they suddenly sound louder than usual and unacceptably irritating. Then, you'll definitely want to grab the hairspray and go to town since it's the perfect temporary fix. For a longer-term solution, consider silicone spray or lithium grease to solve your squeaky hinge problem.