How To Get a Dent Out of a Yeti Tumbler Cup/Bottle (or Ozark Trail, RTIC etc)

Sometimes it's happens, you drop your Yeti tumbler cup or Yeti bottle or you bump it and it accidentally gets a dent in it. What can you do? Can you fix a dent in a Yeti cup and if so how?

Fixing dents in Yeti cups aren't easy but luckily there is one method you can use which people have done with some success.

To fix a dent in a Yeti cup or bottle take a hair dryer and heat the dented spot. Then use dry ice and rub it over the dent to make it cold. Repeat the process until the dent is removed. You may also need to use some minor force to pop the dent out.

NOTE: This also works for other brands of stainless steel tumbler cups or bottles like RTIC, Ozark Trail, Orca, Hydro Flask etc.

In this article I'll go step-by-step exactly how to implement this strategy for fixing a dent in your Yeti cup.

BE CAREFUL: Dry ice is extremely cold and can burn your skin and cause frostbite. Make sure you use protective gear and stay safe.

See the latest price of the new Yeti tumbler cups at Yeti.com
(or compare prices and colors to Amazon)

Does Denting Your Yeti Rambler Cup/Bottle Ruin It and Make it Stop Working?

Dent can potentially negatively affect or even completely destroy your Yeti's ability to keep drinks cold or hot. However, it depends on how bad the dent is and whether or not the vacuum seal has been compromised.

See Yeti ramblers keep drinks cold because they have a vacuum (nothingness) between the inner and outer wall of the cup or bottle. This vacuum doesn't let heat through and is a really good insulator.

It's very possible for you to dent your Yeti, sometimes really badly, and for it NOT to break the vacuum seal and your Yeti will continue to work just fine.

However, if the dent compromises the vacuum seal and the space between the inner and outer wall fills up with air then your Yeti WILL lose it's insulating ability.

Also if your dent causes the inner and outer wall of your Yeti to touch then heat can more easily pass through this section of the cup and it won't insulate as well as it used to.

Click here if you feel your Yeti has stopped working.

What Not To Do To Fix a Dent in a Yeti Cup

Before we get into the exact technique to fi a dent in a Yeti cup or bottle I want to talk about some of the things you SHOULDN'T do.

These are common mistakes people make when trying to fix a Yeti tumbler and it can backfire and break the insulating ability of your Yeti.

Don't Try To Push It Out From The Inside

Naturally a lot of people assume the best way to fix a dent in a Yeti is to push the dent out from the inside.

While this would work if your Yeti rambler was single walled but because it's double walled with a vacuum in between this technique doesn't work.

Applying pressure to the inner wall will cause it to touch the outer wall before it starts pushing the outer wall out. If the inner and outer wall are touching heat can easily pass through the metal and this will ruin your Yeti's ability to keep drinks cold or hot.

Don't Try To Use Immense Pressure To Push It Out (Dangerous)

One thing I've seen a few people across the internet suggest is to put some dry ice inside your Yeti and then add water to make it change to gas quickly.

This is usually suggest with bottles because they screw on and have an airtight seal.

They suggest you put the lid on and allow pressure to build up and theoretically the pressure will push out the dent.

There are a few major problems with this:

First, the inner wall and outer wall aren't connected. So fixing an inner wall dent doesn't guarantee that an outer wall dent will also be fixed.

Secondly, this can be quite dangerous. Build up too much pressure and you risk the bottle completely exploding or the lid flying off at quick speed.

Even if it doesn't explode the lid may get completely stuck and you'll be unable to open it without using special techniques or maybe ruining your lid. Learn how to get a Yeti lid unstuck.

Below you can see a slow mo video of a plastic bottle exploding when too much pressure from dry ice builds up. Imagine if instead of plastic is was metal shards flying at you…could be dangerous.

How To Fix a Dent in a Yeti Cup/Bottle With a Hair Dryer and Dry Ice

Before seeing the video below I actually didn't think ti was at all possible to fix a dent in a Yeti cup.

Sure I've written about how to fix a Yeti paint chip, but dents are different. I thought dents weren't able to be repaired at all and you would just have to live with it or buy a new cup.

Below is a video showing exactly how to fix a dent on the outside of a Hydro Flask, but the same principle applies to Yeti cups

Step 1: Heat Dent With Hair Dryer

To start with you want to place a hair dryer on full heat right up against the dent until it feels hot to touch.

This helps to expand the metal as when metal gets hot it expands.

Step 2: Rub Dry Ice On The Dent

Next take a small amount of dry ice (make sure to protect your skin with clothes or a tea towel) and rub the dry ice directly on the dent.

The intense cold will contract the metal.

Step 3: Repeat Multiple Times

You'll then want to repeat this process multiple times. Heating up the dent with the fair dryer (or heat gun) and then quickly cooling it down using the dry ice.

The larger the dent the more times you'll need to repeat the steps.

Step 4: Help The Dent Out With Some Force

The hair dryer and dry ice may not do the job by itself, you might need to apply some force with your hands to try and pop out the dent as you go.

You can try this while your Yeti is hot or you can try it when it's cold. Again you may need to repeat it multiple times to slowly get the dent out.

Does This Technique Always Work?

This technique is strange and I'm actually not 100% sure why it works.

Something to do with the expansion and contraction of the metal makes it pop back into place and re-assume it's curved shape.

Unfortunately ti doesn't always work.

Below you can see another video from someone trying this method on a dent on their Hydro Flask.

The dent is near the top of their bottle and they are unable to get this strategy to work for them at all. I'm not sure if it's the location of the dent that meant it didn't work or if it was some other factor.

I also found the below post on Reddit where someone used the hair dryer and dry ice technique with SOME improvement in their dent but not a complete improvement.

How Does Yeti Advise You Get Your Dents Out?

Yeti has pretty decent customer support so I wanted to see if they had any advice on how to get a dent out of a Yeti tumbler or bottle.

Unfortunately I couldn't find any comments from the company on how to fix a dent or what to do in the case of a dent.

See the latest price of the new Yeti tumbler cups at Yeti.com
(or compare prices and colors to Amazon)

Does The Yeti Warranty Cover Dents?

Yeti offers a 5 year warranty on their stainless steel rambler products but does this warranty cover dents?

Unfortunately Yeti's warranty only covers issues that occur due to manufacturing defects and the warranty does not cover dents or scratches caused by the user.

They state on their warranty page:

Punctures, scratches, normal wear and tear, and the natural breakdown of colors and materials over extended time and use are not warranted.

While they don't specifically address dents here it's pretty obvious that normal wear and tear is NOT covered under their warranty. So you'll need to either fix your Yeti yourself or go ahead and buy a new one.

How Easily Do Yeti Bottles Dent?

Do Yeti tumbler cups and bottles dent easily or are they impenetrable to blemishes of any kind?

While Yet stainless steel rambler products are built to be tough they aren't built to be so tough that they can't be dented.

Common things like dropping your Yeti onto concrete or hard ground, sitting on it by accident or bumping it onto something with some force will likely be enough to dent it.

I personally haven't dented any of my Yeti tumblers or bottles yet and I have dropped them many times and even let me kids take them to school. They have some scratches but thankfully no dents (yet).

But this doesn't mean they can't be dented and I've seen many pictures on the internet of dent Yeti tumblers and dented Yeti bottles so I know it's possible.

It's good to know that you are unlikely to dent your Yeti tumbler or bottle through regular use. They'll only get dented with strong forces, like being dropped or banged.

How To Stop Your Yeti Rambler From Getting Dented

If you want to stop your Yeti rambler cup or bottle from getting dented then taking good care of it is an absolute must.

Try to avoid dropping it, placing it down really hard or banging it against hard surfaces. Also avoid having it in a bag with sharp items like your keys which might not dent it but will scratch the paint.

But there are also some other ways you can stop your Yeti from getting dented.

Yeti Rambler Bumper

The biggest cause of dents to a Yeti rambler is dropping it by accident.

Getting a Yeti tumbler bumper provides an extra layer of protection for your Yeti tumbler and means it's less likely to get dinged up or scratched.

These Bottle Bottle bumpers provide protection for your tumbler but they are also anti-slip so your tumbler won't move around easily.

They also come in a variety of bright fun colors and they aren't too expensive.

See the latest price of Yeti tumbler bumpers at Amazon

Sling

Make carrying your Yeti tumbler safer and easier with this neoprene sleeve that doubles as either a handle or an over the shoulder sling.

It provides a layer or protection against dents and also makes you less likely to drop your cup.

It comes with an adjustable shoulder strap that you can click on and there are three different colors – black, blue and pink.

See the latest price of the Tumbler Carrier at Amazon