Defrosting Freezer

dixie_dean_2

Had a quick look but couldn't see any info.

Basically, do I take all the food out, maybe stick it in newspaper and in the garage or a cooler box, then let all the ice melt (use bowls with hot water), then stick the food back in?

Are there any tips, things not to do, tricks to stop my kitchen flooding!?

Thanks in advance.

weekendwarrior

Yes, you could always do it on a day when it is freezing- you can just put everything outside then.

I did mine a few weeks ago, but mine is a chest freezer, I scraped the sides carefully with a plastic scraper and had some special spray for defrosting freezers, something like this-

http://www.maplin.co.uk/family_free_delivery/Defrost%20spray.htm

it worked a treat and was finished in about 30 mins!

dixie_dean_2

Cheers. I'll check that stuff out.

babyangel10

I always use a hairdryer to move things along quicker, but make sure you switch the freezer off or you might get blown up! (water+elec=scary hairdo!)

Much quicker and easier than chiselling away with a scraper, hammer or whatever else comes to hand! Just be careful if you do scrape with owt, that you don't bust any holes in the elements or your freezer will be knick knacked!

Good luck! Gotta do mine next week too...Yawn....

amanda40

I followed Kim and Aggies advice and put bath towels on each shelf - put in some hot water in bowls then left it for an hour - Just a bit of a blast with the hairdryer at the end and hey presto - a defrosted freezer with little effort.

chaundster

I used a steam cleaner!!

Minerva69

Lakeland also do a defrosting spray, which I have used and found to be quite good: http://www.lakelandlimited.co.uk/product.aspx/!4643

Cypher

I have one of those big American Fridge Freezer's. It recently developed a fault, the repair guy turned up to fix it and he used a Steamer (wallpaper stripper type) to defrost it. It was done in no time.

flossy_splodge

John Lewis also sell this stuff under their own label but I found it was less than useful! Certainly wouldn't buy it again. If you have a freezer or chiller box you use in the summer for pic nics then put the ice cream and fish products in there til finished as they are most likely to cause problems if allowed to slightly defrost. Might sound strange (!) but I also keep a list hanging on the handle of my freezer, (done in Excel but thats just what suits me!) and I update it every time I defrost so in the event of being in a hurry I've got a bit better chance of finding whats at the bottom!!:T

robin58

Be careful if you use a hair dryer. Do not leave it playing just on one area only on high setting or you will start to deform the plastic lining of the freezer.
:doh:

Found this out by experiance!

babyangel10

chaundster wrote:

I used a steam cleaner!!

I've used mine for this purpose too and it was really quick, but bear in mind that in theory you are adding more water (from the steamer) to the defrosting water, hence more water (does that make sense?!)

So towels a plenty!