Cabinet hinges buying guide
Updated: October 2026
You are replacing a hinge, and amazon.co.uk has mixed a kitchen cup, a small butt and a gate strap in one list. This cabinet hinges buying guide sets the questions in order, so you know which family is eligible before you compare prices. A concealed cup, a butt, a tee and a flap are not substitutes. The eleven listings are ranked on our [hinges comparison](/hub/door-and-window-security/hinges). Peter F. read those amazon.co.uk pages in October 2026. We did not test the hardware in a lab. A purchase through our links can earn us a commission at no extra cost to you.
You are replacing a hinge, and amazon.co.uk has mixed a kitchen cup, a small butt and a gate strap in one list.
You are replacing a hinge, and amazon.co.uk has mixed a kitchen cup, a small butt and a gate strap in one list. This cabinet hinges buying guide sets the questions in order, so you know which family is eligible before you compare prices. A concealed cup, a butt, a tee and a flap are not substitutes. The eleven listings are ranked on our hinges comparison. Peter F. read those amazon.co.uk pages in October 2026. We did not test the hardware in a lab. A purchase through our links can earn us a commission at no extra cost to you.
Our top picks
| Badge | Product | Hinge type | Overlay | Soft close | Note | Price | Offer |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Best overall |  HBL' HBL' 110° soft-close clip-on | Clip-on cup | Full overlay | Yes, stated | 9.1 | about £20.99 | View offer |
| Best value |  APACALI APACALI 24-pack full overlay | Concealed cup | Title full, bullet inset | Yes, stated | 8.5 | about £22.55 | View offer |
 XiangJunly XiangJunly 3 inch T hinges | T hinge | n/a | No | 7.8 | about £5.49 | View offer |
On this page
Start with the job, not the price
The cheapest pack is only a bargain inside its own family. A concealed cup needs a round hole in the door and a plate on the carcase. The HBL clip-on is that fitting, though the title says 10 pieces and the unit-count field says 2. A surface hinge screws to the face and has no cup. Only Furniware's 170° four-pack states a load, 15 kg, for a door that has to clear a corner or a pull-out.
A small butt is two leaves and a pin for a light leaf. The LLRY pack of ten 55 mm butts is about £3.99. A tee is a face-fixed strap for a light gate or a shed door. XiangJunly's galvanised 3 inch tee, about £5.49, is not a heavy-duty hinge. The Fizzix four-pack is a flap hinge for a lid.
If it is a cupboard, match the door first
How the door sits comes before the brand on the packet. A full overlay door covers the carcase edge. A half overlay door shares a stile. An inset door sits inside the opening. On UK hardware that split is a crank, and the adjustment screws will not convert one crank into another. The full overlay or half overlay page follows it through. The APACALI 24-piece shows the risk in this set: the title says full overlay and one bullet says inset. Under the Consumer Rights Act 2015 the goods should match the description, so a split description is a reason to pause.
A straight door usually wants about 95° to 110°. A blind corner wants a dedicated arm around 90°. AOLISHENG's pair is that corner hinge: 90°, about £8.68, rated 4.4 from 528 reviews on amazon.co.uk. It is a weak match on a straight run of doors. A 35 mm cup is common, and the plate still has to match. Häfele UK calls 45/9.5 mm the most used pattern here, with 48/6 mm and 52/5.5 mm also in use. None of these listings is treated here as printed 45/9.5.
Soft close is a damper, not a spring
A spring pulls the door shut through the last part of the swing. A damper slows it so the door does not clap. Furniware's 110° sprung pair states that it has no damper, so it can draw a door closed and still slam. Where the listing denies a damper, that denial is what you are buying. In October 2026 a Blum 10-piece CLIP top BLUMOTION pack was about £39.51 on amazon.co.uk. The soft-close cabinet hinges page sorts which listings claim a damper and which claim only a spring.
A gate hinge is a different object
A tee stays gate hardware even when it appears beside cupboard cups. Toolstation treats tee hinges as face-fixed fittings for lightweight gates and shed doors. They unscrew easily, so they make poor security hardware. e-Hardware uses about one third of the gate width as a starting length. On a gate about 90 cm wide, that is about 30 cm. Dveezull's tee is 30 cm and was about £15.19, with no reviews on the listing we checked. XiangJunly's 3 inch tee is a lighter fitting in the same family.
Neither tee here states a load. The 15 kg figure belongs to the 170° surface cupboard hinge, which still will not carry a gate. Galvanised on a short pack does not by itself mean hot-dip. A hardwood gate that already sags needs a joiner.
What this set cannot be
None of the eleven listings prints a BS EN 1935 code. The LLRY 55 mm butts and the YOFASEN folding butts are light-leaf hardware. They are the wrong object for a flat entrance, a fire door, or an outward-opening front door.
The fire door hinge rules page takes that search and does not pick a product here. If the door is full overlay and you want a stated damper, the top pick is the HBL clip-on. If you are fitting several of those doors and you will test one hinge first, the best value is the APACALI 24-pack. If the job is a fire door, stop.
Common questions
What kind of hinge do I need for a kitchen cupboard door?
A kitchen cupboard door usually takes a concealed cup. Decide full overlay, half overlay or inset before the brand. A straight door is generally about 95° to 110°. A blind corner wants a dedicated arm, such as the AOLISHENG 90° pair in this set. Measure the old plate as well, even when the cup is 35 mm.
Is every 35 mm cabinet hinge the same?
A 35 mm cup is a common bore, and the plate still has to match. UK screw patterns include 45/9.5 mm, 48/6 mm and 52/5.5 mm, so two 35 mm hinges can place their screws differently. Clip-on plates lift off. Slide-on plates stay on the arm. If the old plate is still fixed, copy that plate.
What does 45/9.5 mm mean on a hinge?
On a concealed cupboard hinge, 45/9.5 mm describes the screws, not the cup. Häfele UK calls it the most used pattern in the UK, with 48/6 mm and 52/5.5 mm also used. The first number is the distance between screw-hole centres. The second is the offset from the centre of the cup. Use it when the old plate shows those figures.
When do I need a half-overlay hinge instead of a full-overlay hinge?
Choose a half-overlay hinge when one stile carries two doors and each door covers only part of that edge. A full-overlay hinge covers the whole edge. Inset, with the door inside the frame, is a third case. The adjustment screws will not convert one crank into the other, so you choose before you drill.
What is the difference between soft close and self close?
Self close is a spring that pulls the door shut. Soft close is a damper that slows the door. Furniware's 110° pair states that it has no damper, so it can self-close and still clap. A quiet shut needs a listing that claims a damper.
Are any of these hinges suitable for a fire door or a flat entrance door?
No listing in this set shows a BS EN 1935 grade. A small butt, a concealed cup and a tee are not graded door hinges. For a fire door, buy ironmongery that states the grade.
Related pages
Sources
Public sources from the research digest, last checked on 21 October 2026. Prices and review counts are amazon.co.uk listings, not a laboratory test.
- GAI guide to BS EN 1935:2002 (retrieved 21 October 2026)
- HOPPE: BS EN 1935 coding (retrieved 21 October 2026)
- London Fire Brigade GN92 (retrieved 21 October 2026)
- GOV.UK: fire safety England regulations 2022, fire door guidance (retrieved 21 October 2026)
- Häfele UK: cabinet hinge FAQs (retrieved 21 October 2026)
- ABC Home: kitchen cabinet door hinge types (retrieved 21 October 2026)
- e-Hardware: gate hinges guide (retrieved 21 October 2026)
- Consumer Rights Act 2015 (retrieved 21 October 2026)