# How to fix dent in IKEA wall art? **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [October 7, 2017, 3:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-to-fix-dent-in-ikea-wall-art/798213 "2017-10-07T15:05:56Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 8\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![toadspittle](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/c0e974/32.png) [@toadspittle](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/toadspittle)\ **Post date:** [October 7, 2017, 3:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-to-fix-dent-in-ikea-wall-art/798213/1 "2017-10-07T15:05:56Z")
We have one of those giant IKEA wall pictures (it’s the [shot of the flatiron building](https://www.polyvore.com/ikea_premi%C3%A4r_picture_flatiron_building/thing?id=56372602) in NYC). It consists of a polypropylene “canvas” stretched over an aluminum frame. We recently moved, and in the process, the canvas was deformed in one spot where another object was pressing against it. We tried heating it with a hairdryer to shrink the deformation a bit, but nothing much happened (maybe we were too gentle with the heat). Any advice for correcting the dent? Anyone ever faced this before? Anyone re-stretched one of these canvases before? We’ve had it on the frame for 10 years, so I’m reluctant to take it off willy-nilly, for fear it won’t go back on properly. ---
**Author:** ![burpo\_the\_wonder\_mutt](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/burpo_the_wonder_mutt/32/365_2.png) [@burpo\_the\_wonder\_mutt](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/burpo_the_wonder_mutt)\ **Post date:** [October 7, 2017, 3:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-to-fix-dent-in-ikea-wall-art/798213/2 "2017-10-07T15:39:51Z")
Maybe Hobby Lobby could help? ---
**Author:** ![JR\_Brown](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/d6d6ee/32.png) [@JR\_Brown](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/JR_Brown)\ **Post date:** [October 7, 2017, 6:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-to-fix-dent-in-ikea-wall-art/798213/3 "2017-10-07T18:12:31Z")
If it is in fact polypropylene, I suspect there is not much you can do. I definitely wouldn’t try heating it; PP tends to get soft and stretch when it gets hot, not shrink. ---
**Author:** ![Kedikat](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/ed655f/32.png) [@Kedikat](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kedikat)\ **Post date:** [October 7, 2017, 7:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-to-fix-dent-in-ikea-wall-art/798213/4 "2017-10-07T19:23:24Z")
Maybe having the dent pressed between two flat plates when heating would do the trick. Getting it hot enough to re flow into the flat confines. But it is difficult to guess how much heat to use. Might discolor. ---
**Author:** ![albino\_manatee](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/albino_manatee/32/2_2.png) [@albino\_manatee](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/albino_manatee)\ **Post date:** [October 8, 2017, 11:48am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-to-fix-dent-in-ikea-wall-art/798213/5 "2017-10-08T11:48:03Z")
so, it is a depression and not a dent. short story here … i have sofa/loveseat combo made of italian leather … whereas the back of the furniture has supported framework and not just _“draped”_. one of my end-tables, somehow, slowly edged/encroached into the back-skirt of the loveseat … didn’t notice the depression until 7-8 years later. after pulling the end-table back away … ¼ of the depression slowly _(within 8-10 months)_ came out … can imagine, in time, another ¼ would also come out … perhaps fifty years from now, might be unnoticeable. so … perhaps just leave it alone and do not interfere? however, we are dealing with two different mediums here … leather vs man-made vinyl. ---
**Author:** ![Kedikat](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/ed655f/32.png) [@Kedikat](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kedikat)\ **Post date:** [October 8, 2017, 9:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-to-fix-dent-in-ikea-wall-art/798213/6 "2017-10-08T21:24:52Z")
If you try heating it between 2 flat plates. Let it cool while it is between the plates. The long chain twisty molecules in plastics can stretch and rearrange to produce the dent. But they can be rearranged again. You need to keep them contained to the desired shape as it happens. ---
**Author:** ![anomalous1](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/e56c9b/32.png) [@anomalous1](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/anomalous1)\ **Post date:** [October 8, 2017, 10:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-to-fix-dent-in-ikea-wall-art/798213/7 "2017-10-08T22:03:42Z")
If all else fails, and the dent is closer to the frame and exposed in the back, you could press and glue a wood shim on the opposite side of the dent to push it outward. ---
**Author:** ![ElvisL1ves](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/5daacb/32.png) [@ElvisL1ves](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ElvisL1ves)\ **Post date:** [October 8, 2017, 11:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-to-fix-dent-in-ikea-wall-art/798213/8 "2017-10-08T23:59:31Z")
A new one is, what, $99?