Owning a car is all fun and games until you encounter a hailstorm which causes hail dents or any other non-collision dents and dings. They can be as a result of day to day life annoyances, say a wrongly thrown baseball, hail storms, rocks on the road or a careless driver parking too close to you making it impossible for you to leave the parking lot without damaging your car. Therefore whenever such dents occur, you should not beat yourself down because no matter how careful you are, as long as you are a car owner, they are deemed to happen every once in a while. Additionally, the damage is often minimal and is something you can handle through paintless dent repair. Read on below to learn all that you need to know about it.
What is paintless dent repairing?
In a layman’s language, paintless dent repair refers to the process ofremoving minor dents and dings on a vehicle and restoring it to its original condition without necessarily having to prim or paint again. In other words, it is a method which ensures dent, dings and hail damage removal without altering the factory or original finish of the vehicle. Fortunately, it is a process you can handle yourself, but it is essential that you ensure you know how to go about it or else you may end up causing more damage than good. Below are few tips to help you out.
Assess the damage
Before you go repairing the vehicle, it is essential that you take your time to assess the damage and see whether it’s something you can handle. You can evaluate the damage by precisely massaging the backside of the vehicle's panel to see whether it can go back to its original shape or it will require the services of a specialist.
In a layman’s language, paintless dent repair refers to the process ofremoving minor dents and dings on a vehicle and restoring it to its original condition without necessarily having to prim or paint again. In other words, it is a method which ensures dent, dings and hail damage removal without altering the factory or original finish of the vehicle. Fortunately, it is a process you can handle yourself, but it is essential that you ensure you know how to go about it or else you may end up causing more damage than good. Below are few tips to help you out.
Assess the damage
Before you go repairing the vehicle, it is essential that you take your time to assess the damage and see whether it’s something you can handle. You can evaluate the damage by precisely massaging the backside of the vehicle's panel to see whether it can go back to its original shape or it will require the services of a specialist.
Tools
There are many tools which you can use to repair the dents and dings. However, you have to keep in mind that it is not easy. Repairing a dent the size of a tennis ball can turn into a mammoth task. Nonetheless, we are here to help out which is why we offer the recommendations below.
- Using dry ice, put on gloves to enable you to hold down the ice on the dent. Then rub it around the part of your car with a ding until it pops back in shape. Again this method only works if the damage is not too deep. To make it more efficient you can try raising the temperature of the panel around the dent by heating with a blow dryer then rub the ice around it, so the cooling effect of the dry ice is more efficient.
- Wooden dowels, screws and a hot glue gun. Place the screws on the side of the dowel and apply the glue on the bottom. Then stick them to the dented area, leave them to dry up and then pull until the ding disappears.
- A vacuum cleaner and bucket or well-rounded container. Suctioning is another method to remove the dents yourself. Create a hole under the bucket, then tape it over the damaged part and then place the hose of the vacuum cleaner on the opening you created and turn it on. The suction force should remove the dent. But that is if it’s not that shallow.
- You can also use a plunger whose edges are lubricated to suction the dent out.
Conclusion
The above hacks often work but not always. However, instead of stressing yourself with something you aren't sure of, it's advisable if you let trained professionals handle the task for you. They are more experienced, and hence you can be sure that they are not taking chances with your vehicle and that at the end of the process it will come back looking as good as new. Nevertheless, if you feel you have enough skills to do it well, the tips above might come in handy.
There are many tools which you can use to repair the dents and dings. However, you have to keep in mind that it is not easy. Repairing a dent the size of a tennis ball can turn into a mammoth task. Nonetheless, we are here to help out which is why we offer the recommendations below.
- Using dry ice, put on gloves to enable you to hold down the ice on the dent. Then rub it around the part of your car with a ding until it pops back in shape. Again this method only works if the damage is not too deep. To make it more efficient you can try raising the temperature of the panel around the dent by heating with a blow dryer then rub the ice around it, so the cooling effect of the dry ice is more efficient.
- Wooden dowels, screws and a hot glue gun. Place the screws on the side of the dowel and apply the glue on the bottom. Then stick them to the dented area, leave them to dry up and then pull until the ding disappears.
- A vacuum cleaner and bucket or well-rounded container. Suctioning is another method to remove the dents yourself. Create a hole under the bucket, then tape it over the damaged part and then place the hose of the vacuum cleaner on the opening you created and turn it on. The suction force should remove the dent. But that is if it’s not that shallow.
- You can also use a plunger whose edges are lubricated to suction the dent out.
Conclusion
The above hacks often work but not always. However, instead of stressing yourself with something you aren't sure of, it's advisable if you let trained professionals handle the task for you. They are more experienced, and hence you can be sure that they are not taking chances with your vehicle and that at the end of the process it will come back looking as good as new. Nevertheless, if you feel you have enough skills to do it well, the tips above might come in handy.
