The booking says “Wipe Down Door Handles and Light Switches”. You are in a front hall you have never seen: a brass-coloured lever on one door, a dark round knob on the next, and a worn patch where hands land. The line names no finish, cloth or product.
Below is a one-page card for that decision, with two fictional visits. It is a suggested personal record for independent cleaners, not a Hometress requirement, training standard or app feature, and it does not tell you what to wipe a handle with. The pages come from two hardware makers, Schlage and Baldwin, and were read November 2, 2026: six documents in all. That is two makers, not every handle on every door, and this guide does not claim otherwise. The task lines come from our published cleaning checklist.
The short answer
- The finish decides it, and the sheet does not name one. Schlage’s care text splits into clear-coated finishes, oil-rubbed bronze and chrome; Baldwin’s sheet covers four finishes that carry no coating at all. The pages give different instructions for each.
- Disinfectants are where the pages differ most. Schlage’s US blog says some “contain harsh or abrasive chemicals that will damage the finish of your hardware” and points to “bleach or alcohol solutions”; Schlage New Zealand says not to use “sanitising products or methylated spirits” on brass or antique finishes; Baldwin says not to use “any type of harsh chemicals”.
- Abrasives moved. Schlage’s older care text allows “mild abrasive powder” on oil-rubbed bronze; its current warranty sheet lists “abrasive materials” among the causes it does not cover, and its J-Series installation sheet says to refrain from “cleansers or acid chemicals” to polish levers and knobs.
- Living finishes are designed to change. Baldwin says its four have no protective coating and no finish warranty, and Schlage’s oil-rubbed bronze is excluded from finish discoloration cover.
- Ours, not theirs: the card records the finish, what touched it and what you left. It sets no method.
What the sheet says and what it leaves open
Hometress’s published Standard list says “Wipe Down Door Handles and Light Switches” under Entire House, and Deep, Move and Dream Home inherit it. Dream Home also lists “Clean Knobs, Cracks, and Crevices” and “Disinfect & Clean High-Touch Surfaces”. The verbs are wipe, clean and disinfect.
The sheet does not say which handles, which finish, or whether a disinfectant is meant to touch a brass lever. Our switch and outlet guide covers the switch half of the Standard line, and our interior-door card hands the handles to their own Standard line, which is the line this card is about. The disinfectant label worksheet reads a disinfectant label against a task, and this card supplies the other side, the finish. It does not repeat the label rules.
Six documents, two makers
Schlage’s US blog post on cleaning smart locks and door hardware shows no date; its opening begins “Today’s current environment” and refers to high-touch surfaces. Schlage’s current warranty sheet (MR-1573 Rev. 06/23) is marked “MR-1573 Rev. 06/23” with an effective date of January 24, 2022; the text of its three pages has no cleaning instructions. The older copy of the same sheet (marked REV 8.07) is an old revision hosted on a third-party site, not by Schlage, and it has a finish-care table. The J-Series non-turning knob and lever installation sheet is for a particular line, non-turning (dummy) knobs and levers; Schlage’s support page for it is marked “Updated” December 19, 2024. The Schlage New Zealand care page is a different market’s range and carries two dates in its text, February 2026 and November ’22, without saying what each marks. The Baldwin Estate living-finishes sheet shows no date.
| Document | Abrasives and scrubbing | Disinfectants and strong chemicals | Cloth, water and oil |
|---|---|---|---|
| Schlage US blog (no date) | Oil-rubbed bronze: “Household detergents and mild abrasive powder may be used to restore the high metal color without seriously affecting the original compound of the metal.” | “Some contain harsh or abrasive chemicals that will damage the finish of your hardware.” Points to the CDC’s “bleach or alcohol solutions”. Clear-coated: avoid “paint smears, thinners and strong cleaning agents”. | “Do not spray or immerse the hardware in liquid at any time.” Oil-rubbed bronze: a little vegetable oil on a soft cloth. Chrome: a damp cloth. |
| Schlage MR-1573 Rev. 06/23 (effective January 24, 2022) | Not covered: “abrasions, or deterioration due to the use of abrasive materials, paints, solvents, or other chemicals.” | The same sentence names “paints, solvents, or other chemicals”. | No cleaning instructions in the text of its pages. Oil-rubbed bronze (613): “finish discoloration is not covered under this warranty.” |
| Schlage MR-1573 REV 8.07 (older copy) | Oil-rubbed bronze (613) row: “Household detergents and mild abrasive powder may be used to restore the high metal color without seriously affecting the original compound of the metal.” | “DOES NOT COVER scratches, abrasions, or deterioration due to the use of paints, solvents or other chemicals.” Lacquered or clear-coated: “strong cleaning agents”. | Lacquered or clear-coated: a soft, damp cloth. Chrome: a soft damp cloth. |
| Schlage J-Series installation sheet | “Refrain from using heavy or sharp-edged objects to scrub levers or knobs.” | “To avoid oxidation, refrain from using cleansers or acid chemicals to polish your levers or knobs.” | Not in that sheet. |
| Schlage New Zealand page (February 2026) | “DO NOT use harsh solvents, abrasive cleaners, or scourers on any finished door hardware.” | “DO NOT use sanitising products or methylated spirits on any product with a brass or antique finish”. | “Wipe products with a damp cloth, and dry thoroughly.” |
| Baldwin Estate living finishes (no date) | Finish 033, to restore it: an “Ultra Fine Scotch-Brite pad”. Oil-rubbed 102 and 402, after oiling: “Do not wipe the product as it could remove the oxidation from the hardware.” | “Do not use any type of harsh chemicals on Baldwin door hardware.” Finish 033: “Use rubbing alcohol and a soft cloth to remove any residual wax that may be on the hardware.” | Finish 031: “a soft cloth dampened with a mild, soapy water, and dry immediately with a soft cloth”. |
Where a cell says it is not in a document, that is a statement about the pages I read, not about the maker’s other documents. The capitals in the New Zealand and warranty quotations are the pages’ own.
Where the pages do not line up
On disinfectants, Schlage’s US blog points to the CDC’s bleach or alcohol solutions, applied gently and never sprayed or immersed, and not in direct sunlight or at elevated temperatures. I did not read the CDC page it links. Schlage New Zealand bars sanitising products on brass or antique finishes, and Baldwin bars harsh chemicals on all its hardware, yet its own steps for finish 033 call for rubbing alcohol on a soft cloth. These are different documents for different ranges. They do not give one answer for a brass lever of unknown make.
On abrasives, the older Schlage text allows a mild abrasive powder on oil-rubbed bronze to restore the metal colour. The current warranty sheet, which carries no care table, now lists “abrasive materials” among the causes it does not cover, and the installation sheet says to refrain from “cleansers or acid chemicals” to polish. Whether a mild abrasive powder counts as a cleanser is not said. I read the sheets side by side; I do not claim they contradict each other.
On finishes that change, Baldwin’s four living finishes are 031, 033, 102 and 402. It says they “do not have any protective coating applied and are manufactured to patina overtime”. Schlage says its oil-rubbed bronze “does not have a clear coat”, and that it “changes over time”. None of the pages I read says where a finish number is printed on an installed handle.
The card
Copy this into a note, one card per door or per handle type. Work down the rows in order; the right-hand column is what to write when you cannot fill a row in.
| Field | What to write | If you cannot fill it in |
|---|---|---|
| 1. Line and door | The sheet line (“Wipe Down Door Handles and Light Switches”, or on Dream Home “Clean Knobs, Cracks, and Crevices” or “Disinfect & Clean High-Touch Surfaces”) and which door or doors. | The sheet does not say how many handles. Write what you found. |
| 2. Hardware as identified | Lever or knob, the maker and finish if a label, stamp or the client’s note shows them, and how you know. | Write “maker unconfirmed” or “finish unconfirmed”. |
| 3. Finish group and page | Clear-coated or lacquered, oil-rubbed bronze, chrome, brass or antique, a Baldwin living finish, or unknown, and which page above you followed. | No maker page above covers a maker you could not identify, so write that you followed none. |
| 4. Condition before | Bright or dark patches, wear down to a lighter metal, spots, or a coating that looked lifted. | Write what you saw. |
| 5. What touched it | The cloth, water, soap, oil or disinfectant, by name, or “nothing”. | Write “dry cloth only” if that is what it was. |
| 6. Living finish? | Whether the page you followed says the finish has no protective coating or no finish warranty (Baldwin 031, 033, 102, 402; Schlage 613 discoloration). | Write “unconfirmed”. |
| 7. What was left | A handle, or a part of one, that you did not wipe, and why. | Write “none left”. |
| 8. Ask the client | A handle whose finish you could not identify, a worn patch, or a request to disinfect a finish a page above says not to. | Tell the client and write what you left. |
What the sheet does not define
It does not define a handle, a finish, a method, a product or a time. The card is the habit that fills the gap: write what you saw, which maker’s page you followed and what you left. The same habit is in our final walkthrough scope check and our surface-by-surface check.
Two fictional visits
These visits are fictional. The doors belong to no real client, and none of the makers has endorsed the card. The circumstances are invented; what a page says and what is our suggestion are marked separately.
A brass-coloured lever, maker unknown
Door: a front-hall door. Line: Standard, “Wipe Down Door Handles and Light Switches”. Hardware: a lever that looks like brass; no label or stamp, and the client’s note says only “brass handles”. Finish group: unknown, so no maker page applies; the card says so. What touched it: a soft, damp cloth, then a dry one (ours). I applied no disinfectant: the line says wipe, and I could not tell whether the lever was lacquered. Schlage’s US blog points to bleach or alcohol solutions and Schlage New Zealand bars sanitising products on brass, and with the maker unconfirmed I could not choose between them. The card records what I did, not that it was right. Unresolved: the finish.
A dark knob on a Dream Home visit
Door: a study door. Line: Dream Home, “Disinfect & Clean High-Touch Surfaces”. Hardware: a round knob, dark brown with lighter metal showing at the edges; the client’s note reads “Baldwin Estate, oil-rubbed bronze”, which could be 102 or 402; the note does not say which. Finish group: a Baldwin living finish. The sheet says these finishes have no protective coating or finish warranty, bars “harsh chemicals”, and, for a 102 or 402 that has just been oiled, says not to wipe it. In this visit I asked the client how they wanted the line handled on this knob, wrote down the question and left the knob unwiped until they answered. The other handles on the visit followed their own cards. Unresolved: what the client wants done to the knob.
What this guide leaves out
It recommends no brand, product or price: the Scotch-Brite and rubbing-alcohol steps appear only as Baldwin’s own words, for restoring finish 033, and the card does not adopt them. It covers no Kwikset, Emtek or other maker, because no maker page for them was read. It does not cover smart-lock keypads and touchscreens, which Schlage’s pages treat separately, or plated versus solid hardware. It gives no advice of its own on who is responsible if a finish is already worn or damaged. It does not cover pay.
Where a platform fits
Hometress is a cleaning marketplace in Philadelphia. It is free to join, and cleaners carry their own insurance. If writing down which maker’s page you followed is how you already work, the application takes about five minutes. This guide does not cover pay.