Will boiling water damage car paint? 

Driving in urban areas can be a bit challenging due to issues like noise and traffic. While some of these problems are easy to avoid with intelligent driving, it’s almost impossible to get away without an unwanted dent if you’re driving in the city for the first time. 

Don’t worry though! There are various ways to get the dent fixed like taking it to a car repair shop. Alternatively, some car enthusiasts recommend using boiling water to fix the dent, saving you money, effort, and time. 

But, is boiling water safe to use on car paint? Or will it end up damaging your car’s paintwork? Well, let’s start from there before we look at other incredible methods you can use to fix unwanted dents on your car! 

Does boiling water damage car paint? 

First of all, boiling water can cause serious harm to various parts of the car, especially plastic components.

Surprisingly, that’s not the case with car paint. Most car manufacturers cover their car’s paintwork with protective and shiny finishes that protect the paint from harsh elements including hot/ boiling water.

That way, when you pour boiling water over the car surface, the protective layer prevents it from penetrating the base coat. 

However, if you pour an excessive amount of boiling water on the car’s exterior, the protective layer may get affected. At the same time, the water may break down any wax layer on the car’s surface, leaving the car paint unprotected.

For that reason, you should be very careful when using boiling water to fix dents on your car as it can expose the car paint to harsh elements and increase the maintenance cost. 

Effects of pouring boiling water on car paint

Boiling water can have both positive and negative impacts on your car paint. Some of the notable effects include; 

Breaks down the car wax layer 

Pouring boiling water on car paint with a lot of pressure can break the wax layer on your car surface and ultimately damage the paintwork. To prevent that, boiling water should be poured on car paint with utmost care. 

Leaves Scratches 

Sometimes car owners use boiling water to remove the dirt materials on the car’s body. While this may work, it can also leave scratches on the car paint, especially if the water is poured carelessly. 

Removes dirt 

As already mentioned, you can use boiling water to remove dirt and other tough stains on your car body as it’s more effective than cold water. Even better, it gets rid of all types of grease, oil, and grime that are difficult to remove with cold water.

Removing dents

You can use boiling water to fix minor dents on your car’s bodywork. Specifically, pouring boiling water on minor dents triggers them to pop out, which is a relatively easy and cheaper method than taking the car to an auto body shop for minor dents repair.

However, this technique isn’t so effective at fixing big dents on your car. Luckily, there are other methods you can use to fix big dents on your car instead of using boiling water, but more on that later! 

How to fix minor dents on your car with hot water 

To start, fill your cooking pan with a sufficient amount of water and heat it at 210 deg F until it starts to boil. Let the water cool off for a few minutes before you pour it on the car dent to avoid damaging the car paint. 

Now, slowly pour the hot water on the car dent without using excessive force. In most cases, you can easily pop the dent out of the car body with your hands after pouring all the water.

However, if the dent is too deep or large, you might need a plunger to pump it out. 

Alternative ways to fix car dents instead of using hot water 

The plunger method

This is a very simple and proven method of popping out the extra small dents on your car’s bodywork. And as I already mentioned, you can also use it to fix minor dents that are difficult to pump out by hand after pouring hot water. 

Using a hair dryer instead of pouring boiling water on car paint

Although this comes as a surprise to most people, a hair dryer is an effective device for fixing minor dents on your car’s bodywork. Just turn on the hair dryer and use it to heat the dent you want to fix.

Once you’ve heated the dent, use compressed air to pop the dent out of the car’s body and you’re good to go! 

Using hot glue instead of pouring boiling water on car paint

Using hot glue to remove dents from your car’s bodywork depends on the pulling force your body can generate. Not to forget that you’ll also need dowels for this technique to be successful. That way, you can use the hot glue to attach the dowel to the dent and pull as hard as you can until the dent pops out. 

Applying dry ice 

Like the other methods we’ve mentioned above, using dry ice is a fairly simple process for fixing minor dents on your car. Simply rub dry ice on the dents you want to fix and wait for them to pop out! 

Conclusion 

While boiling water is safe to use on car paint, it can break down the protective layer that protects it, exposing it to various elements. For that reason, it’s recommended that you use warm water instead of boiling water when washing your car.

However, you can use boiling water on car paint, but only when you’re fixing minor dents on the car!