It was a really mild heat gun, something my wife uses for crafting, more like a more-accurate hair dryer. I did kinda toast the first piece I took off a bit right on the driver door switch panel, but, I had another one I replaced it with anyway. Overall it was totally worth it to do, it's just an incredible change especially if yours is as cracked/peeling/faded as mine was.Brodie, I imagine a heat gun might damage the surrounding bits. Did You disassemble the dash to remove the wood trim? I need to do this.