Can I Use a Plunger to Remove My Car Dents

Hot Water on Dent Repair

Did your baby get a ding or dent? No, I’m not talking about your child, I’m talking about your car. Your precious baby may not be able to get away from all the dents and dings brought on at the parking garage or your local supermarket parking lot. From other careless door openers that ding your doors getting in or out of their cars, to runaway shopping carts, your car is liable to get a ding or dent over time. Yes, you can park at the far end of the parking lot, like Dad always did, but that doesn’t fully protect your car, as other people may take the same advice.

The weather can also cause dings and dents to your baby. Hail is the number one dent maker when it comes to weather. Those heavy, pelting balls of hail can inflict remarkable damage to your car if you didn’t remember to park in the garage or under a protective carport. Even carports aren’t one hundred percent helpful, as wind can blow hail in from the sides, front and back causing damage to your car.

To some, those dents are merely cosmetic and don’t really need to be repaired. On the other hand, if your car is your baby, you’ll probably be heading to the repair shop by the next day. However, dent repair at a repair shop can cost you an arm and a leg depending on the size and severity of said dents. What if you could recreate the paintless dent repair process at home with just a few simple steps? Albeit, it won’t be just like a professional paintless dent repair, but it will get the job done.

You may have searched the thousands upon thousands of doing it yourself dent repair videos on the internet. You may have asked yourself, “Can I use a plunger to remove my car dents?” The answer is yes. Actually, professionals use them all the time to remove minor dents and dings from the body of an automobile. However, the ones they use are specially designed for the job. You won’t see your mechanic tackling dents with a toilet plunger. If it was that easy, everyone would do it.

However, for most minor dents the plunger method has proven successful. Just remember that not all dents will pop back out with this method. If your car has a creased, narrow dent, you probably need to seek professional help. If you are dealing with smaller shallow dents, the plunger method will work just fine. This is great for small hail damage, door dings, and small panel dents. Take a look at what you’ll need and the simple steps you need to follow to remove dents with the plunger method below:

Grab a Plunger

What You’ll Need

A Plunger

Hot Water

Directions

  1. Fill a bucket, container or jug with hot water. Warm water won’t do the job, so make sure you use hot water. If you want to, you can boil some water on the stove or pop some in the microwave, to get it good and hot. The hotter the water, the easier it will be to manipulate the dent.
  2. Locate the dent you plan on working on. If you have several dents, do these steps one at a time on each dent.
  3. Carefully pour hot water over the dented area. The heat from the water will cause the outer shell of your vehicle to soften, which will make it easy to work with. Use caution while pouring the water, as it is hot and can burn you.
  4. Once the surface is good and hot, use the plunger and try popping the dent out. Use slow pulls at first to get good suction and latch onto the dent. Then use a little force and draw out the dent. u can try using the plunger to pop the dent out. If it doesn’t work the first time, don’t get discouraged. Repeat the process a few times, and you should have success. It may not look perfect, but it will hardly be noticeable compared to the dent that was previously there. If you still are not satisfied or unable to pop out the dent, take your car in to be serviced by a professional. They will be able to use a paintless dent repair process to remove your car’s dents and dings quickly.