How to Make Doors Close Quietly (Quiet a Loud Door Knob, Latch..)

Is your door knob too loud? For example, when you visit the bathroom at night, you always worry about waking up others as you open and close the door? Or perhaps you’re wrecking the nerves of your office coworkers?

To make your doors close quietly lube up the door latch with a lubricant like WD-40. If the sound persists, adjust the metal plate that is attached to the door frame so that it doesn’t grind on the latch when the door is being closed. Consider equipping the door knob from each side with a door silencer like Latchy Catchy to prevent the latch from engaging and making any noise.

These kinds of worries indicate you’re dealing with an unusually loud door knob or that the door is slamming on the frame too hard. I’ve had the same problem at home and tried a few different fixes. These are the ones that worked best to make my door knobs quieter, and I’m hundred percent sure that they can help you out as well.

1. Lube up the latch

Oftentimes a door knob creates a squeaky noise because its dry and perhaps even rusty. You can use a lubricant like WD-40 to lube it up and get rid of squeakiness.

I recommend using a spray lubricant because it will be easier to administer and its much tidier. While turning the handle, spray the lubricant onto the latch of the doorknob.

The point here is to get the lubricant to work its ways inside the doorknob. Once you’ve lubed it, it should be turning more smoothly, which will result in less noise overall.

2. Clean and lube up each part individually

If the first tip doesn’t work, you can take apart the doorknob by removing the screws from the strike plate and the latch, or the screw on the handle.

Then check each of these parts for accumulated debris which could be causing the noise. Clean these parts with a piece of cloth or baby wipes. Now you can lubricate all the pieces without anything standing in your way.

Next, reassemble the door knob and try it again. By this point, in most cases the squeakiness is no longer present.

3. Adjust the metal plate

The metal plate that is attached to the door frame could be poorly placed. In that case, the metal latch can grind on the metal plate and create a very loud sound when you’re closing the door.

If you turn the handle in advance as you close the door, this sound can be somewhat avoided because the latch doesn’t slam against the metal plate.

So if lubrication doesn’t solve the issue, unscrews the plate from the door frame and then adjust it properly. Try lowering it or raising it until you get it right.

4. Add rubber or foam tape on the door frame

Doors can also produce loud noise when they connect to the door frame. This is the case when the parts that meet aren’t softened up by foam or rubber.

Covering with weatherstripping foam tape (aff link to Amazon) either the door frame or the sides of the door can drastically reduce the impact noise even when you slam the door shut. I recommend placing the tape along the door frame or at the top and bottom part.

Weatherstrip tape used in this manner will also create some resistance, so it kinda forces you to close the door more slowly. In turn, it reduces the latch sound as well.

5. Use a door silencer

I use this unique door silencer Latchy Catchy from Amazon (aff link) on the door knobs for my bedroom and my kid’s room.

It’s a piece of cloth that keeps the latch from engaging, so when you close the door it doesn’t produce any noise. Place the rubber portion around the door knob on each side and you’re done. You can remove it just as easily.

Even though lubricating my bedroom door knob helped, it’s still too loud for those nighttime visits to the loo. The door still closes perfectly fine with this cloth on, but now it’s James Bond, sneaky levels of silent.

The best part of all is that this cheap innovation can be used on any door regardless of its shape and size so I recommend giving it a shot!

Conclusion

To make a door knob quieten or even silent, use one or more of these five tips:

Lubricating the different parts of the door knob, especially the latch, adjusting the metal plate, covering the frame with foam tape and using a door silencer (also known as door jammer).

These are all effective options that I’ve used to eliminate the noisy door knob problem in my own home and office. Hope this helps!