How to fix dents in stainless steel refrigerators & furniture

My kids told me about that party, Marsha :-)
Regards,

A. I am a Paintless dent repair technician. To answer all of your questions about dents and dings in your fridges, stoves, and hoods, etc., yes, most are repairable. This is not something you can DIY. Your best bet is to call your local dent removal company. Some will do it some will not. Dent tools are garbage. They don't work on cars and they don't work on appliances. No professional dent removal company even owns a tool like those.
We charge by size and severity of the dent. Most of the time it's about $150-$200 depending on location. Use that as a reference when getting prices. On Fridges a hole is sometimes necessary but is usually placed on the side behind a handle or out of view.

Good luck and don't try and fix it yourself. Most of the time when somebody tries to fix a dent then calls us there is little we can do.

A. The professional who responded here is dead wrong!

I used a dent remover on two major dents on my car and it worked great!

On the basis of that, I am going to buy a small assortment of suction-cup devices and get the little dings out of my stainless fridge!

A. Purchase a small piece of dry ice to aid in repairing any small dents. Carefully hold the dry ice with clamps or another utensil over the area to pop the dent out. If you have a dent with sharp, well-defined edges the dry ice method may not work as well, and you should either contact the manufacturer to purchase a new panel or a local auto body shop offering paintless dent repair to determine which avenue to pursue.

Finish the repair by wiping the repaired area down with a damp cloth and buff with a separate soft, dry cloth to make the surface shine. If you had to use any touch-up paint or sealer wait until the area is fully dry before you wipe the area.

A. I tried multiple approaches to remove two round one inch dents from a stainless steel refrigerator caused from a broom handle banging into the refrigerator (I wasn't doing the cleaning). What worked for me was applying uniform heat for a minute or so to a three or four inch radius around the dent(s) with a heat gun ⇦ this on eBay or Amazon [affil links] until the stainless steel expanded enough to start deforming the stainless steel (steel deformed enough to distort my reflection); then, I rubbed (melted) two ice cubes on the dent until the dent(s) popped out (I also used a rag to prevent the melted water from running down the refrigerator). I had to repeat the process two or three times to totally eliminate the dent(s). I expanded the stainless steel enough that I had to use a rolling pin to take a barely noticeable bulge out of the stainless steel (I heated the stainless steel and then rolled it). For what it is worth, I believe I wasted $7 bucks on a gas duster/cooling agent (didn't work).

A. As the founder and former CEO of a stainless steel door company, I can tell you that very rarely is there a satisfactory dent removal method, and you will NEVER be able to restore the factory appearance. If the dent is 'sharp', there is no way to fully remove it, but if the dent is soft you may be able to improve the condition somewhat. The heavier gauge the material, the worse the problem. Most of the reason for this is that the act of denting, causes what is called 'work hardening' of the stainless steel, which renders the dent itself to be harder than the surrounding un-dented material, resulting in distortion of the area surrounding the dent when trying to pull the dent. Unfortunately, if the stainless is scratched or scored, the problem only becomes worse, as refinishing, or 're-graining' to a factory finish is impossible with a hand held machine even with experts.
The best solution, and maybe most cost effective, may be to buy a replacement panel from the manufacturer on products which have replaceable doors.