Graphite powder is not a lubricant
Whoever decided that graphite powder should be used to lubricate door hinges should be dragged out and – well… made to clean all of our hinges! Just look at all of the mess you get around your hinges from that black stuff on your doors and trim, and even on the carpets below! The mess only gets worse if you ever have a reason to tap the pins out. If you take nice, long, hot showers like me and often forget to turn on your bathroom fan, you’ll manage to cake some of that crap on the doors by adding a little humidity. And to top it off, the stuff doesn’t last very long, so your most used doors end up squeaking all too quickly. Woof!
I Googled around for a solution to this problem and ended up rolling my own from a combination of sources. I went with plumber’s grease, a lube that is made from silicone and won’t break down under heat or usage like petroleum based ones. I did my best to hold the vacuum cleaner nozzle near the bottom of each hinge as I tapped the pin loose, then I smeared just a bit of the grease on the pin and put it back. If you close the door and do one hinge at a time, you can get it done without having to fight with the door or remove it.
A couple of suggestions talked about taking the pin out and cleaning it really well – yeah right, like there’s not a load of that dang powder just waiting for it back inside the hinge. If you have the time and patience to do this for each hinge, you are probably crazy anyway so just buy new doors and be done with it.
Once I was finished with each door, I wasted a bunch of paper towels and used earth-destroying cleaner to try and make things look decent. You’ll also want to wipe off any excess lube from around the hinge. It is a messy and tedious job, but things will look better and your doors won’t squeak for hopefully a long time.
And yes, this is insane attention to detail. I assure you, my affliction is as much a curse as a blessing, but attention to detail at a ridiculous level is what I do best.