Defrosting the freezer

Primrose

We have a big upright freezer in our garage which needs defrosting occasionally. I take everything out, wrap it in an old blanket with a couple of those blue frozen ice packs and put everything temporarily into one of those circular Pop Up garden containers for putting hedge trimmings in. I then boil up a number of saucepans with boiling water, put them on the shelves, put a plastic bowl at the bottom of the freezer to catch the melting drips leave everything for an hour. From time to time I refresh the saucepans by bringing the water up to boiling point again and for any stubborn pieces of ice in difficult places I use a hairdryer briefly but not long enough to damage the plastic interior.

Payless_2

luxor4t wrote: »

...and my MiL insisted on carpet in her bathroom & loo _pale_

I put bowls of hot water in the freezer for half an hour or so before I get going with the hairdryer when I'm defrosting.

Hope the clear up goes well, it's a thankless task - I can't go to MiL's anymore, I get blamed for things I could not possibly have done so it's easier for her if I just stay away. Puts more onto DH & BiL - and BiL's extremely popular wife aka 'golden girl' - but not much I can do about that. Poor SiL!

My brother's the golden boy. He took her out from the nursing home to the beach this afternoon while I was cleaning her kitchen. I tend to not go anywhere out of her sight when she's at home because if she loses anything it's always me that's taken it.

I used pans of water, a hairdryer and a plastic scrapy thing on the freezer and it still took 5 hours to defrost. It was more like 6 inches of ice at the top and it was solid.

esmf73

I hope that you get a feel good glow inside for what you're doing as you certainly deserve it. xxx

Payless_2

esmf73 wrote: »

I hope that you get a feel good glow inside for what you're doing as you certainly deserve it. xxx

Thanks. I think the worst of it is done now. I ve chucked loads of rusting bakeware out that'll never be used again and spread everything out a bit. Ideally I'd like to have a go at the bedrooms too but that seems too intrusive. I have been getting some help from my aunty though..

Mam's Dyson's not picking up. I think the belt may have gone years ago because the brush can be turned with no effort. If anyone has a Dyson, is this likely to be the case? I don't want to dismantle it if it's not that.

luxor4t

Payless wrote: »

...
Mam's Dyson's not picking up. I think the belt may have gone years ago because the brush can be turned with no effort. If anyone has a Dyson, is this likely to be the case? I don't want to dismantle it if it's not that.

I have the DC14 model & can only 'walk' the brush around with my fingers, it doesn't spin fast with just a push. It is pretty easy to dismantle them & the Dyson site has useful 'how to' guides. HTH

Payless_2

luxor4t wrote: »

I have the DC14 model & can only 'walk' the brush around with my fingers, it doesn't spin fast with just a push. It is pretty easy to dismantle them & the Dyson site has useful 'how to' guides. HTH

Ahh. Thanks. I was thinking that the filter was probably blocked but couldn't find it yesterday. Now I've looked at the site I know where it is but I think that the belt must have gone as the brush does just spin. I'll get one and leave instructions for my brother. I'll still check the filter though as I don't think that will ever have been cleaned.

Rebekah24

Hope this is okay for in here, if not please move

My landlord put in a fridge freezer and a small fridge when I moved in. I dont have any need for fridge space really, so I am planning on defrosting and switching off one at least.

What is the best way to defrost without causing a complete flood of the kitchen/electrics??

Also once it is all clean and defrosted is it fine to just bleach it and turn it off? - anything I can put in there to keep it dry & mould away etc??

Thanks in advance guys

lil_me

Switch it off, fill it with towels to soak up any water. I always clean the caravan one with milton then leaving the door open is the best way to save smells etc. Better to call your LL and ask him to pick it up.

misskaytee

Just a word of caution...dont be tempted to chip away at the ice with anything sharp, OH did this and murdered our fridge last year :mad:

You could fill bowls with boiling water to help speed up the thawing,
lots of towels as already suggested.
once all done and cleaned you'll need to keep the door ajar, hopefully your landlord will come and pick it up.

If your stuck with the fridge you could always use it like a cupboard, ive done this before when my fridge section broke but the freezer still worked in my old half and half fridge/freezer.

Rebekah24

yeah... I dont fancy a big gap in the kitchen where it shud be!! ha!! lol

I really dont use my fridge! .. I could do the other one as well eventually

I will give it a good bleach once its all defrosted

Thank you guys, I will crack on with it tonight