has anybody used dry ice to get dents out of their car??...how would i do it??....i have a nice little dent on my hood...the paint is fine its just thats i hate looking at it everyday....any suggestions?

I can say that I don't think there's much danger in trying. (paintwise)

1st thing - just be careful - dry ice will burn your fingers - wear gloves (any glove will help, any winter glove should be adequate)

The basic idea is to pop the dent back out by pulling from all the edges at once. To do this you contract the metal by cooling it.

Basically, park it out in the sun - this will cause the hood to expand.

I've never done it, but I'd try two techniques. The first would be to draw circles around the dent. The second would be to cool the whole dent at once.

The last thing I'd try is to get some rubbing alchohol (dab a little on the paint somewhere inside the hood to make sure it doesn't do anything), and something to seal against the hood (like silly putty), fill the ring with the alchohol and then put the dry ice in. This will be about as cold as you can get.

I don't know how to fix dents with dry ice, but be warned! Be careful with the stuff and make sure you have gloves!! Last year someone was daring people to hold dry ice to see who could hold it the longest. Of course I had to show off so I held it for about 20-30 seconds!! When I let go my hand was solid white and I felt a sensation like needles jabbing me in the hand. When I got home I sunk my hand in hot water where they were still hurting. I went to the doctor the next day and my hand had blisters they size of golf balls on every finger. The doctor said my hand had wounds equivalent to that of a 2nd degree burn! I got tired of the blisters 2 days afterward so I took a sharp needle and....well you get the point.


Yes, you just wasted 2 minutes of your life reading this post, but do the opposite of what I did and be careful with dry ice!

I would just ask around before I tried anything! I am sure someone has tried it already and they will let you know. If you do try it let me know if it work's b/c I have a few nagging ass dent's myself. :biggrin2: