Types of Hinges and Their Uses

What comes to your mind when you hear the word hinges? To most people, hinges are the small pieces of hardware that join a door with its frame and ensure its smooth opening and closing. You may have the same picture in your mind, right?

But as the storm of evolution passed through the hardware sector, the options have been explored when it comes to choosing the right hinges for cabinet doors. You can now easily find a bunch of hinges that can handle your door-swinging dilemmas. Although choosing the right hinge from the vast array of options can get a little tricky sometimes. But don’t you worry, as, in this article, we will help you gain an insight into the different types of hinges and their uses.

Before moving on to the hinge types, let’s first look at the brief definition of hinges and their importance in our daily lives.

What are hinges and their importance?

A hinge is a mechanical bearing that is used to connect two solid objects, mainly a door and its frame, along with allowing only a limited angle of rotation.

Without hinges, one cannot imagine opening and closing a door smoothly. When the hinges were first introduced, they were made of wood and leather, but now you can find this hardware in a range of materials, including plastic, steel, bronze, brass, and others. 

Hinges made from different materials offer different levels of flexibility to the moving components. You can find them in different finishes and go for the ones that suit the purpose and color of your interiors.

The right hinges for cabinet doors will ensure the seamless movement of the door. They are mounted on the door edges from where they fold the doors open. Almost every type of door, regardless of its size, requires hinges to function fluently. The door hinges are always invisible to the eyes but play a major role in ensuring the best functioning of a door.

Different Types Of Hinges

There are various types of door hinges available in the market, but choosing the one that matches your door aesthetics and other hardware is essential. Here we are listing down the best door hinges and their uses to help you get the right hinges that complement the look and feel of your door.

Butt Hinges

One of the most utilized hinges, Butt hinges are manufactured with a height of 6 inches or less. They are generally mounted on doors of residents and commercial buildings. 

A butt hinge comprises two leaves of the same size and look. One is attached to a fixed component (the door’s frame), and the other one is attached to the moving component (the door). When the door is closed, the hinge leaves remain flush with each other, and only a part of it called a knuckle or curled barrel is visible. They ensure a smooth opening and closing of the door in one direction and are long-lasting.

You can get these hinges in a variety of materials and finishes, such as aluminum, stainless steel, and others. The hinges have robust strength and can withstand many types of harsh environmental conditions. They can also be installed on box lids, interior & exterior doors, cabinets, and fire doors. 

One of the significant benefits of butt hinges is their ability to sustain heavyweight. They can be constructed with both ball bearings and a central pin. The hinges make the door rise a bit as it opens, making them an ideal choice when the door needs to clear a carpet when opened or closed. 

Soft-Closing Hinges 

Soft-closing hinges are the ones that have made their way to everyone’s heart and homes. These hinges are known for maintaining silence and peace in homes by making the doors close noise-freely. They are backed with a mechanism that activates when the door is a few inches away from the shut position and closes it smoothly. 

The hinges ensure the long-lasting functioning of your doors by slowing down their closing and preventing them from hitting the frame with a bang, thus eliminating excessive wear & tear. 

Here are a few things that have made soft-closing hinges one of the primary choices of customers:

• Add more years to the life of your doors: The hinges by slowing down the closing of doors, prevent cracks, dents, and tear on the surfaces of doors and frames. With these hinges, you can ensure the long-time working of your cabinet doors.
• Make safety your companion: With these hinges mounted on your cabinet doors, you can prevent your fingers from getting slammed in the door. Thus, minimizing the risk of injuries.
• Peace lovers: If you are not fond of loud and violent sounds of doors banging, then soft-closing hinges are just for you. 
• Keep the content intact: When the cabinet door closes with a bang, it disorganizes the content within, even resulting in the breaking of the fragile items. By installing soft-close, you can keep all the stored items safe and intact.
• Make the doors look stylish: Uplift the look of your home interiors with these hinges. You can get these hinges in multiple finishes, from which you can go for the ones that complement your home interiors. 

Self-Closing Hinges

Self-closing hinges are getting increasingly popular owing to their ability to pull the door shut when it is only a few inches away from its shutting position. The hinges are a must-have if you have a habit of leaving the cabinet doors open.

With these hinges at your disposal, you can ensure the closing of the cabinet doors even with the slightest push.

Clip-on Hinges

The hinges are ideal for doors that require more hinges to get fitted on the frame, such as large storage cupboards. For mounting these hinges, you just need to line them with the mounting plate and push them in a single movement. The push will make the hinges clip to the mounting plate.

The Clip-on hinges are the best fit for different sized doors and ensure their excellent functioning for many years to come.

Factors to consider before finalizing a hinge

We hope that the article has helped you understand a few of the popular hinges you can invest in to give your cabinet doors an excellent functioning and a stunning look. If you are still skeptical about which hinge to go for, you can consider the factors mentioned below to make a wise decision.

• The look of the material and if it complements the look of your interior.
• From a safety viewpoint, is it fire resistant?
• Can it withstand the changes in weather conditions and resist corrosion?
• How much movement does the hinge allow?
• The cost and the quality of the hinge are important criteria you should look upon before making a purchase.

If you want any other information on hinges, please feel free to write to us in the comment section below.