Due to being durable as well as resilient, many of you may prefer or already have gotten stainless steel refrigerator for yourselves.
However, no matter how nice looking, sturdy, and resilient a stainless steel refrigerator is, it easily gets dents and those dents are noticeable.
Thus, to keep maintaining its usefulness and look, you may want to know the ways to remove a dent from a stainless steel refrigerator.
Therefore, keep reading till the end to know the most effective methods of removing dents from a stainless steel refrigerator.
How Do I Remove A Dent From A Stainless Steel Refrigerator?
The heat and cold method (dry ice and heat) or using suction tools should work effectively to remove a dent from a stainless steel refrigerator. Also, the method of using a can of compressed air or using a regular suction tool should help in removing a dent from a stainless steel refrigerator too.
Removing a dent from a stainless steel refrigerator is quite an easy and safe process to do at home. So, before you decide to pay a professional to help you to remove a dent from your stainless steel refrigerator, you should try all these methods explained below as step-by-step guides.
Remove A Dent With Dry Ice:
Things you need-
- Dry ice
- A damp cloth/sponge
- A hairdryer
- Gloves
- A dry cloth
Buy Dry Ice:
Purchase dry from a grocery shop or a local hardware shop. And make sure to take the dry ice in a foam cooler so that it doesn’t evaporate.
Clean The Dent:
Next, you should use a damp (not soggy) sponge or clean cloth to clean the dent to clean any buildup of grease or food on the stainless steel surface.
Heat The Dent:
Now use your hairdryer and turn the dryer at high. Then blow hot air straight onto the dent to heat the dent. Keep blowing hot air on the dent for like 30 seconds or more until the dented part on stainless steel surface is warm enough, but not hot.
Apply Dry Ice:
Since dry ice can burn your fingers’ skin, wear protective gloves, then put a dry ice piece on a soft dry cloth and wrap the dry ice piece. It will make the dry ice application easier and the refrigerator won’t get scratched by the dry ice either.
Now hold the dry ice with a little pressure against that dent and in a circular motion move it for 30 seconds-1 minute.
You’ll heat a pop-up sound when the stainless steel has returned to its place.
Remove A Dent With Compressed Air:
Things you need
- A compressed air can
- Hairdryer
- A damp cloth/sponge
- Gloves
Clean The Dent:
Take a damp sponge or cloth and clean the dented area on your stainless steel refrigerator to remove any buildup of grease and oil.
Heat The Dent:
Now set your hairdryer at the highest and blow hot air pointing at the dented area for 30 seconds. The dented part should be warm only, not too hot.
Heat makes the stainless steel expand.
Spray The Compressed Air On The Dent:
Next, hold the compressed air can upside and spray the compressed air at the dent. This will form a thin icy sheet on the dented area. And while spraying, keep the can nozzle 1” away from dents.
Remember that compressed air contents can be too icy to but your skin, so better wear protective gloves.
Wait For The Ice Sheet To Melt:
Over time, the thin icy sheet will thaw and evaporate. And this way the stainless steel surface will contract and will return back to its normal shape. A popping-up sound might occur when it will become flat. Repeat step 2 and 3 if necessary.
Remove A Dent With Suction Tools:
Things you will be needing-
- A dent remover kit
- A damp cloth or sponge
Buy A Dent Remover Kit:
Buy a dent remover kit that comes along with a bar, instead of a big and heavy-duty suction cup because the bar works well on stainless steel refrigerators. You will get a dent remover kit at $15-$30 on any website or hardware store.
Clean The Dent:
In this method, glue will be used, so make sure to clean the dented area very thoroughly by using the cleaning solution which is rubbing alcohol that cane with the kit. Rub the alcohol on dented spot and clean it using a cloth.
Glue The Suction Cup:
Pick the slightly larger suction cup than the dent and apply glue that cane with the kit on the suction cup, then place it directly on the dent.
Attach The Bar And Adjust The Bar Plates:
There is a screw coming from the backside of the suction cup, the bar is supposed to be attached to that screw of the suction cup.
So put the bar over that suction cup screw and add a knob which will screw back in the backside of suction cup. Tight the screw very lightly in place.
The bar should have two plates on both ends and those are adjustable. You must adjust those plates near to the suction cup so that it can deter metal around that dent from distorting while removing that dent.
Tight The Knob:
Putting the plates in place, tightly tighten the knob because it will create pressure on a suction cup. Thereby, due to pressure, the stainless steel will come back to its original state.
Repeat as needed as this procedure fixes a dent slowly.
Remove A Dent With Regular Suction Cup:
Things you will be needing-
- A damp cloth or sponge
- A regular suction cup
Clean The Dent:
Like the other methods, clean the dent/dented area with a moist cloth or a damp sponge to remove all grease or oil residues before removing the dent with a regular suction cup.
Put The Suction Cup On The Dent:
Now put your regular suction cup on the dent and flex it in-out for a few times so that you can be sure that it’s secure.
Release The Suction Cup:
When the suction cup has sat securely, with firm hands take it off from that dent. This way the suction cup will pull the stainless steel back in its actual state.
Remove A Dent By Pushing The Dent Out From The Back Side:
Most of the time this procedure of removing a dent from your stainless steel refrigerator doesn’t work efficiently.
However, only if you can safely remove the stainless steel plating from your refrigerator and reattach it, attempt this process. And below are the steps.
Things you need
- Hot water
- Rubber mallet (optional)
Pour Hot Water:
After removing the stainless steel plate, pour hot water onto the dent but be careful of not to burn your skin.
Push The Dent From Behind:
You either can use bare hands or a rubber mallet to push the dent from behind to make the stainless steel back to its actual shape.
Note: If none of the methods seems to work to fix the dent on your stainless steel refrigerator, you should take help from a professional without having a second thought.
What To Do If Nothing Works To Remove The Dent From The Fridge?
Eventually, you only can attempt the explained methods above to remove the dent from a stainless steel fridge on your own.
Some dents can be very hard to remove, so those dents should be taken care of only by a professional who can use professional methods to remove the dent/dents on behalf of you.
Usually, getting a professional service is not that cheap, however, it’s the best inexpensive deal you can get without having to replace your stainless street refrigerator.
Also, do check out the refrigerator’s warranty because frequently this type of fridges come with a coverage for such types of damages.
How Much Does It Cost To Repair A Refrigerator Door Dent?
The cost of repairing a refrigerator door dent ranges between $100 to $200 on average.
If your refrigerator door has a small dent/dents, the cost of repairing it would be around $100 or even less than $100. However, if the dent is a larger one, then the cost would be around $200 or more than $200.
The cost of fixing a refrigerator door dent overall depends on the size of the dent/dents and where the dent is.
Final Thoughts
Apart from taking help from a professional, using dry ice and heat (heat and cold method), using a dent remover kit or a regular suction cup, or the method of using a compressed air can (compressed air and heat should be useful enough in removing a dent from a stainless steel refrigerator.