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Peeling Plating

I have door pulls on my kitchen cabinets that appear to have a gold plating on them. They are now peeling and the chrome underneath is showing thru. Is there anyway I can remove the coating so they will be chrome only?

Rosemary McCartney
home owner - Parsippany, New Jersey
2005

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If the coating is really gold, it would be hazardous to chemically strip the gold, because that usually requires cyanide.

If the coating is really thin, and not too ornate, you might be able to sand it off and buff the chrome to remove the scratches.

Otherwise, you'll probably find it cheaper, easier, and safer to replace the pulls.

James Totter, CEF
- Tallahassee, Florida
2005

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First of two simultaneous responses -- 2005

If I were to guess I would say they are probably brass plated, and you are seeing the nickel plate underneath. Brass plate is not very efficient, it's easy to strip, but it would help to know if they are lacquered or not? Some lacquers are easy to strip and others are not that easy,that's the first step you have to take.


Regards,

Brian C. Gaylets
McKinney Mfg. Assa Abloy North America - Scranton, Pennsylvania, U.S.A.

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Second of two simultaneous responses --

Unless you purchased rather expensive designer handles from a "boutique" hardware store, what you probably have is brass plated hardware. The brass is what is called a flash, or thin layer over a brighter plate which is generally nickel. It is this nickel you are mistaking for chrome. If you feel the hardware is valuble and wish to make an investment greater than new hardware go to a company that does antique refinishing if not replace the hardware or just paint it over.

Gene Packman
process supplier - Great Neck, New York
2005

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2005

If you have something with a high pH that you could heat up to around 150 degrees fahrenheit thaat will take the lacquer and the brass off, you'll just have to keep a close eye on it so it does not start to eat at the nickel.


Regards,

Brian C. Gaylets
McKinney Mfg. Assa Abloy North America - Scranton, Pennsylvania, U.S.A.

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I would be surprised if your fixtures are really gold plated. I suspect they will be coated in a gold coloured lacquer that has started to wear off exposing the base metal. This could be nickel or chromium. If the coating is really gold, I would take the parts back to the supplier and raise merry hell with them....
One trick used by the jewellery industry is to coat cheap metal jewellery in titanium nitride, which is gold coloured and then plate the nitride with gold. The beauty of titanium nitride is that is is very hard a wear resistant, so it will not wear away. the gold sits in microscopic "valleys" in the nitride, giving the article a real gold appearance. The sides of the valley are titanium nitride and their "peaks" are very hard, thereby giving protection to the wearing away of the gold. You may want to try that....

Trevor Crichton
R&D practical scientist
Chesham, Bucks, UK
2005