A few weeks ago, I had a conversation about PDR tools with a friend. Since have both been in the paintless dent removal industry for a long time, it is understandable that when we have these types of “conversations” we are trying to prove who is a better dent technician and who knows the most about the PDR trade (no one backs down, and I honestly think we are both pretty good at doing our jobs... Don’t tell my friend I said that)!! But, this conversation was pretty different; we tackled something that most dent masters would not talk about, and got into a deep discussion about the myths in the industry. Below are just some of the topics my good friend and I talked about.

The popping truth

If you have been a dent technician for a while, you have probably seen most of the gimmicks people in the automobile industry create to make money. I remember the day when I saw those DIY “dent poppers” come on TV. Instantly my hand landed on my face (a reaction most teenagers today call a facepalming). I was like, “What is wrong with these people? Now every average Joe is going to think they can remove all their dents using this simple tool…” Anyway, my friend and I know that these types of products don’t work and are not something a professional technician would ever use. We both advise our clients, friends and relatives not to believe in these types of products as most of these are useless and a waste of time and money. They were designed to improve (not remove) simple, small dents from your car. My problem with them is that they often leave other dents where they “grip” onto the car panel to remove the first dent!

Compressed Air, Dry Ice… Are you kidding me?

You have probably heard people who claim dry ice and compressed air fix dings and dents. People with no background in PDR write about it on article sites all of the time and discuss it on youtube videos… When I first heard of the dry ice theory, I thought, yeah it makes sense a bit; we all know that dry ice can shrink or condense metals. This could be the reason why many people thought it would work. The theory was proved wrong over and over again though. The bottom line is – the dry ice thing doesn’t work, same as the compressed air and blow drying, why? Because the heat brought by the hair blower and the pressure provided by the air in the can is infinitesimal to the materials the car body is made of. You need stronger materials to remove small to medium sized dents and each one needs to be worked individually based on its length, depth and position on a car panel. Dry ice and compressed air just don’t cut the mustard (although in really cold climates, warming the panels with a hair dryer can make the car panel a little more flexible and ready to be worked on – with an appropriate, quality dent tool)!!!

There you have it guys, I hope this post somewhat cleared some misconceptions out there. Share your stories with us, leave us some comments.