Your garage door’s infrastructure has a lot of moving metal parts that work together with the garage door opener to lift and lower the door, probably thousands of times per year. And as we all know, metal moving parts need lubricated every so often; it lessens friction, which means less wear and tear, which means your garage door parts last longer. (Which also means less breakdowns and costly garage door repairs!)

But lubricating garage door parts isn’t the same as dousing the hinges on your car door in WD40. In fact, get that WD40 out of your hands, right now. Giving your garage door parts a bit of grease every so often is key to keeping your garage door in good shape, and it’s also easy.

What Garage Door Parts Should I be Lubricating?

During your regular garage door maintenance, it’s important to clean dirt, grime and surface rust away so you can easily see the condition of all the parts to your garage door opener’s mechanisms. So first thing’s first – give all your garage door’s components a cleaning with non-caustic soapy water, a washcloth, and maybe a gentle scrub brush. Then let everything dry.

The parts of your garage door that you need to lubricate are:

• Hinges
• Locks
• Bearings
• Rollers
• Arms
• Springs (careful!)

Two important notes here:

1. If there is anything suspicious about your garage door’s springs, like deformation, rust, bends, etc., don’t try to clean or lubricate them. Call SACS to have a technician out to your house ASAP to have the spring repaired or replaced. Garage door springs are dangerous – something best left to the professionals.

2. Never lubricate the garage door tracks. They should be cleaned just like everything else, but not lubricated. Lubricating the tracks will attracts dirt and grime, gunking everything up pretty quickly. Which is the opposite of what we’re trying to do!

Make Sure to Use the Right Products When Lubricating Garage Door Parts

Remember, when lubricating garage door parts, always use only a small amount. You want to lessen friction between parts without going overboard and creating what will be a sticky mess a few months from now. Home improvement and hardware stores sell special garage door lubricants, as garage door parts have different needs than that squeaky basement door in your house. The best lubricants for garage door hardware are:

• Silicone-Based Lubricants
  • Pros: non-toxic, odorless, resists water washout
  • Cons: not as effective for high-pressure applications or extreme weather
• Lithium-Based Grease
  • Pros: heavy-duty protection against wear and tear
  • Cons: messy to apply and may attract dirt and dust
• Teflon-Based Lubricants
  • Pros: superior dry film lubrication, prevents sticking and binding
  • Cons: more expensive
• Grease with Teflon
  • Pros: combined benefits of lithium grease and Teflon, reduced friction and noise
  • Cons: more expensive

Why can’t you just use the WD40 you’ve already got in your garage? Because it’s not really a lubricant at all. WD40 is a solvent, which is why it’s so effective at loosening stiff hinges and bearings. It’s not lubricating the situation; it’s dissolving the gunk that’s making the garage door part seize. You can use WD40 to help you out during the initial cleaning phase, but it should be removed with a wet rag before you apply lubrication. Otherwise, you’re inviting rust and corrosion in.And there you have it – another easy DIY garage door repair! But if you run into any trouble, don’t hesitate to call your local garage door repair company, SACS GARAGE DOOR REPAIR.