Boiled Water: The Easiest Way to Remove Dents from a Car Bumper

The Easiest Way to Remove Dents from a Car Bumper

Even if you're lucky enough to not be injured in a car accident, it's rare to escape without some sort of damage to your vehicle. It goes without saying that there are some things you shouldn't try to fix yourself, but if it's just a scratch or dent, DIY can be a cheaper way to go.

You can remove most small dents from your vehicle with a hair dryer and compressed air, dry ice, or even hot glue and corks, but if it happens to be isolated on your bumper, all you need is some boiling water.

Yes, Some Really Hot Water Could Be All You Need

Just pour the hot water over the dent, reach under the wheel well and pop out the dent.

The heat allows the plastic to expand and become flexible so you can pop it back into place.

Afterwards, pour cold water over the area to shrink the plastic back into place. Check out redditor SX_PNTHR's Imgur album for a photo walkthrough and read through the comments for more tips and tricks.

Results Vary on Older Cars

This method isn't for everyone, though. A commenter pointed out that this method is not suited for most older cars. Newer urethane body parts can handle it, but there's a good possibility of messing up the paint on older metal ones.

And You Might Have to Take the Bumper Off

It's also probably more trouble than it's worth if the dent is in a spot where you'd have to take the bumper off to get to it. But, if you want to give it a shot, check out the video below to see how to remove the wheel and bumper for the hot water method.

Have you had success with this method for removing dents from bumpers? Share your experience with us below!

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2 Comments

Thanks for the demonstration. I've watched it twice, and bought a can of compressed air. I'm still upset about the whole thing though; but I'll try to remove the dent again. Hopefully, I won't have to remove the bumper to do it. A truck was tailgating me the other night and a deer happened upon the road. I'm usually able to slow enough to avoid hitting them; but the pressure from the rear caused me to alter my normal response. (Sigh).

nice blog! this will be a great help. Thank you for providing this kind of content.

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