You make it to your destination only to find out that all the regular parking spots are taken. You’ll have to parallel park, which you‘ve never been the best at. You almost make it into your spot, but you manage to bang the back of your beautiful truck on the light pole behind you.
Sure enough, when you get out and inspect the vehicle there is a huge dent in the back. That’s not an expense that you can afford to pay for right now. Luckily you won’t have to.
There are plenty of DIY dent removal options available to you. Keep reading to see the complete list.
1. Plunger
Plungers are so universal. You can use them to unclog your toilet and the kitchen sink, and get dents out of your car. All you have to do is splash a bit of water on the dent and the plunger and then plunge the area until the dent comes out.
Keep in mind that this little trick only works for small and medium-sized dents. Also, you should use a cup plunger, not a flange one.
2. Boiling Water
Like in our example, one of the most common ways to get a dent is by reversing into something and hitting your plastic bumper. You could try taking the bumper off and pushing it out, but the plastic is a bit too sturdy for that.
Boiling water can make it a little easier to work with. Boil a bit of water on your stove and then pour it onto the area. After you splashed the water on it, reach behind it and try and push the dent out. You should have a lot more luck now.
Make sure that you pop the dent back out fast. The spot won’t stay hot for too long.
3. Hair Dryer and Compressed Air
If you have a hairdryer and a can of compressed air then you can get the dent out. Again, heat makes plastic easier to work with so you’ll want to bump your hairdryer up to its highest settings and heat up the area.
Once you’ve got it as hot as you can, spray it with the can of compressed air. The cold air will cause the plastic to contract and pop the dent out.
4. Dry Ice
This trick only works for very small dents. As an important disclaimer, be sure that you put on gloves before you pick up the dry ice to use it. Place the ice on the dent and then rub it around in small circles until the dent pops out.
You may need to apply the ice more than once. If the dent is especially stubborn, try heating the spot up a bit with your hairdryer first.
5. Vacuum Cleaner and Pot
Sometimes the plunger doesn’t have enough power to do the trick. You need something with a little more oomph. Grab a vacuum cleaner, a pot, and tape. Poke a hole in the bottom of the bucket and then tape it around the dent.
Place the hose of the vacuum to the hole that you made in the bucket and then turn it on. The force should be able to pop the dent out in a few seconds.
6. Hot Glue, Wooden Dowels, and Screws
Despite the fact that these are some pretty solid methods of taking a dent out, if you use them, you do run a small risk of either making the dent worse or chipping your paint if you do something wrong. This method gets rid of that risk.
Grab a few wooden dowels and hot glue two screws to each one that you use. Then you’re going to glue the dowels around the dent wood side down. After the dowels are secure on the car and the glue has dried, you’ll pull on them until the dent comes out.
You may have to detach the dowels and try a few different spots to get the dent to go away completely so it can be a long process. You can use alcohol or heat to detach the dowels when you’re done.
7. Long Metal Rod and Knockdown
When you get a dent in your car, it does turn inward but the edges of the dent go outward. You may not have much luck if you’re just trying to pop it out by working only from under it.
You’re going to need something that you can use to work on both sides of the dent. Put a metal rod under the dent and a wooden knockdown on top. You should be able to pop it out after applying a little bit of force.
8. Specialty Tool Kit
If all these methods fail, you can buy a specialty tool that may do the trick. The way these usually work is that they stick on to your car and then take the dent out after you apply a bit of force.
Make sure that you do a bit of research when you buy one of these products. Not all of them are built the same, so you may end up doing more harm than good.
Tips for Easy Dent Removal
While you never mean to put a dent in your car, accidents happen. If the dent isn’t too big or deep, you might not have to take it in for an expensive repair. You can use DIY dent removal.
Try out some of these methods to get your car back into pristine condition without breaking the bank.
Does your car have more problems than a few dents? Browse through our manuals to try and find the issue before you take it the mechanic.