Certain parts of the world experience more intense hail than others. If you live in one of these parts, you are sure to know that there’s less you can do to prevent the damages it can cause to your homes as well as your cars. We all treasure our cars and keeping these assets in shape is important to us. Car owners are well aware of how costly repairs can be, and how important it is to avoid them.
Hail damage is unavoidable if your vehicle is not under the protection of a garage. If you are someone who takes all measures to keep your car protected and in shape, having a hail cause dents and damage can be stressful and disheartening. If the hail damage is not too bad, you can always fix it yourself rather than spending hefty sums on repair shops.
Through this article, we will guide you on how you can fix damage caused to your cars by hail. Even though you can’t do much to prevent the damage, you can surely do plenty to fix it.
Use Heat
Using heat on the affected area can expand the car’s surface, popping the dent out. There are a few ways you can do this. You can park your car in a sunny spot for a few hours to see if it does the trick. The sun’s heat will allow the car dents to expand, resulting in them popping out.
Another way to do this is by using hot water or a hairdryer. Keep the heating moving around the surface and not just be focused on one point, as it can damage the paint. If the dents are small, they will surely be fixed with any one of these heating techniques. If not, you still have more recovery options to go through!
Use Dry Ice
If heating the affected area did not work, try using a colling technique. This method is also for the small dents that be fixed at home. Take some dry ice and wrap it in a towel or glove. Now circle the dents slowly.
During this technique, the cold will contract the dent surface causing it to pop. If you’re having trouble with this technique, you can add a twist to it. Try the warm first, and cold later.
Use a heating material to first, heat up the dent by moving it around the surface. Once the dented area becomes warm to the touch, take the towel-wrapped dry ice and move it directly to the heated area. The heating will allow the surface to expand and the quick cooling will allow it to contract, this will surely work for small dents.
Use a Bathroom Plunge
In case you are dealing with bigger dents, using a bathroom plunge can be a good technique due to the surface area it targets, Using the plunge, create a suction a few times over the dent. Once you feel like the suction is strong, pull the plunge up carefully at a good angle. If executed properly, you will feel the dent being pulled up along with the plunge.
Use a Rubber Mallet
This one might come off as a surprise, but yes, a rubber mallet might come in handy when dealing with car dents. Not treating the dent through this technique will require you to get inside your area and locate the dent from there. Once you have located it, you can use the rubber mall. Gently tap the affected area. Make sure that the mallet and the dent are of the same surface so that the area does not impact the surrounding surface. Also, make sure you are not exerting too much force as it leads to more damage and dents.
Take your car to an automobile repair shop
The above-mentioned tricks can work for you if your dents are small or not deep enough. Before you get to thinking about taking your car to a repair shop, we advise you to have tried these methods as you never know what might work. If the above techniques do end up working, you could be saving yourself from repair costs. However, if you have larger dents and you are scared of causing damage to the paintwork, the best practice is to take your vehicle to a repair shop. The experts will make sure to do a clean smooth job and leave your vehicle’s surface well as new. The process will be anxiety free as compared to the DIY techniques, which always have a risk of causing even more damage, in this case, you will leave the vehicle’s damage in the hands of experts.
Conclusion
Removing dents from your car surface caused by hail can be an easy task if done right and executed properly. However, the possibility of doing it at home depends on how deep the dent is and how much of a clean job you can execute. You can treat hail-caused dents by using heating and cooling techniques as well as plunging and forceful means. If doing the job by yourself fails, you are left with the option to take your vehicle to an auto repair shop, where an industry expert will execute a cleaner job in getting rid of the dents.
