Should I try to pop my car dent with dry ice or compressed air?
That is a question we get often. Different voices on the internet can point you in various directions, making it hard for someone who doesn’t have any experience and just wants answers quickly.
Before you start trying out any of those techniques yourself as an alternative solution, know that we will provide answers about the myths associated with auto dent removal here!
We’ll give concise responses with all necessary information for an informed decision-making process so please keep reading on…
Jump to the sections you need answers for:
-> Hair Dryer And Compressed Air Dent Removal
-> Make Use Of A Dent Repair Kit
-> Cost Of Dry Ice Dent Repair vs Paintless Dent Repair
-> What Do Auto Dent Repair Experts Recommend?
The old way of repairing a car dent is expensive and time-consuming. It involves grinding down the surface, repainting it all smooth again with paint that’s not too thin or thick so as to risk leaving any marks behind; then you’ve got sanding followed by hours worth on top quality primer/base coat before finally getting back into your vehicle one last round for good measure – this process can take up weeks depending and costing tens of thousands of dollars.
So car owners dread the repair and often search online for cheaper alternatives.
There are numerous dent repair DIY tips from YouTube and blogs. The most popular ones are the compressed air dent removal and dry ice dent removal methods.
But do they actually work?
Hair dryer and compressed air dent removal – It Does Not Work.
This is one of the most popular DIY methods of dent removal. You’ll find numerous videos and blogs that test this method or provide detailed description.
Myth – How does hair dryer and compressed air dent removal work?
Heat up the surrounding area of the dent using a hair dryer gently and slowly to avoid damaging the paint. One it’s hot enough, apply cold compressed air (or a high-risk alternative: dry ice) to cool down the center of the dent quickly to cause the metal to pop back to its original shape.
Does it work?
No, not even for tiny dents. You could patiently watch this popular YouTube video, in which Donnie tested multiple dents of various sizes, and find out after 15 minutes, none of his dents were fixed. Or you can take our word for it.
Maybe you’d think the cold compressed air wasn’t cold enough and are tempted to try dry ice next.
Dry Ice Dent Removal – It Does Not Work.
Myth – How does dry ice take dents out of a car?
The theory is that dry ice will cause the temperature of your vehicle’s bodywork to drop sharply, which in turn will help the dings to even out.
Does it work?
Dry ice dent removal is a popular topic on Google with more than 4.4 million results.
So it must be true, right?
Unfortunately no…
Even if you pair the dry ice with the hair dryer method, the answer is still “No, it just doesn’t work.”
Some people believe this used to be an old-school method when cars were made of thick metals, requiring a speedy and extremely hot and cold cycle. And many of them try and then end up at our shop because it caused more damage.
So why doesn’t it work?
First of all, you have to heat up the metal significantly, and your hair dryer can’t produce that much heat. If it can, you may want to discard it because that wouldn’t do any good to your hair.
When you apply that much heat professionally, you worsen the damage on your car, leading to more types of damage that would require repainting and spending more money. We haven’t seen any shop use this method for many years because, in addition to paint damage, the metals in modern cars will be weakened under immense heat.
Also, dry ice is incredibly dangerous and cold enough to burn the skin in a similar fashion to frostbite. If you accidentally eat, swallow, or inhale dry ice, call 911 right away.
Park In The Sun – It Doesn’t Work.
The sun offers a lot of benefits, but it doesn’t pop out dents. This is another myth based on temperature changes.
Various articles on the internet claim that should you expose your car to the blazing hot rays of the sun for a considerable amount of time, its metalwork will expand. In turn, the dings and dents caused by the hailstorm will naturally begin to pop out.
How we wish it’s this simple!
At least this one doesn’t deal with harmful substances. So feel free to try it out, but don’t be disappointed when it doesn’t work.
Make Use Of A Dent Repair Kit – It may or may not work.
If leaving your car to bathe in the sun doesn’t seem to work, your internet search for DIY dent repair will likely lead you to a dent repair kit. The clue is in the name — this is a specialist type of equipment used to remove dents and dings from the bodywork of vehicles.
These kits are easily accessible and can be found in most auto supply stores. Better still, they’re incredibly affordable.
As a result, it has led many car owners to believe that the paintless dent repair is easy and can be done by an amateur.
It is doable, but do you have the skills? And should your car be your guinea pig?
A DIY set technically works. However, we strongly advise you let the professionals fix your car’s dings and dents. Using these tools requires skills and practice.
DIY dent removal kits often come with a glue gun, a heat gun, various pulling tools, etc.. If not careful, you could further burn or crack the metal—and end up spending much more money fixing it.
In addition, depending on the dent locations, you often need to remove the damaged panel before you could work on the dents. Provided you can find tons of resources teaching you how to remove and refit panels of your car, be sure to watch those videos before you attempt to take things apart.
Battle of the Costs – Dry Ice Repair vs Paintless Dent Repair
Those who want to save money on hail damage repairs may seriously consider using dry ice or other DIY methods. However, this will likely (and unfortunately) lead to paint and further damage.
Once the damage goes beyond mere dings and dents—and to actual paint damage—paintless dent repair would no longer be enough.
So what does this mean, you ask? You’ll end up spending more. Thousands of dollars more.
On the flip side, PDR is very affordable and generally costs a couple of hundred dollars for a few dents. What If My Car Got Damaged In A Hail Storm?
– Comprehensive Insurance Covers The Costs.
If your car got caught in a hail storm, its bodywork will undoubtedly have suffered some degree of damage. The fact that hailstorms can reach speeds of up to 20mph means that even pea-sized stones can cause a significant amount of harm in this instance.
Hailstorms aren’t kind to cars, that much is for certain, which is why it should come as no surprise that your vehicle is probably going to need fixing. You don’t want to be driving around a car that is covered in dents, dings, and broken windows. Your best course of action is to get the hail dents fixed ASAP.
In some cases, unrepaired hail damage can lead to further damage to the vehicle. If you have comprehensive insurance coverage, you won’t even spend a single penny. Paintless dent repair is undoubtedly the more cost-effective option than traditional dent repair methods.
Call In A Professional
If you put all of the above advice into practice, yet still struggle to fix your car after it has been damaged by hail, you should consider enlisting the services of a specialist instead. And we sincerely hope you didn’t cause more damage to your car.
Want to know how much that can possibly cost? Check this free dent repair cost calculator out.
Once you get in touch with a professional auto hail repair service such as StormWise, you can count on our efficiency and speed in fixing your hail-damaged car.
Not only do we have the experience, tools, and knowhow required to remove the dents from your car, we also offer a lifetime warranty on our job — we guarantee to have your vehicle looking like new once again!
Hail is one of the most dangerous weather conditions known to man. While it’s tempting to perform a DIY hail dent repair at home, it’s not as simple as those videos you see on YouTube and other websites. It is absolutely necessary to have appropriate knowledge about the procedures.
A car is more than a vehicle to me. If my car is hit in a severe hail storm, I’d want to talk to a professional repair technician about my options. After all, asking a professional is far more reliable than asking the internet in this case.
