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4-step guide to defrosting your freezer like a pro, including genius bowl trick
Is your freezer full of ice and frost? Did you get wet socks the last time you tried to defrost it?
Defrosting the freezer is no ones favorite chore, but you gotta do what you gotta do. With any luck, its been fewer than 35 years since the last time you defrosted it, too, although finding three-decades-old Krogers cheese would be fun. The first step is to take your sweaters out assuming you followed our advice to put them in the freezer in the first place. What’s next?
How to defrost your freezer like a pro, in 4 easy steps
Theres no single answer to how often you should defrost your freezer. The BBC says to defrost it as often as needed, while others say once or twice a year is a good estimate.
The Focus spoke to George Crew, a general contractor with a wealth of experience in the world of DIY and looking after a home. He broke down what you might think of as a daunting task into 4 easy steps.
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- Empty out all the food. You might think you can defrost the freezer without raising the temperature too high, meaning you could leave the food in there, but youre better off storing it in an insulated bag or cooler while you do it. Or, you know, eat it all. Taking the food out also makes the freezer warm up faster, speeding up the whole process.
- Place a bowl of hot water in the freezer and close the door. The steam coming off the bowl will loosen the ice, so you can scrape it off without hours of waiting. If the steam stops coming, simply refill the bowl. If you want to speed up the process even more, use a hair dryer on a low setting to melt the ice in specific areas. This will make larger lumps of ice easier to break off and remove.
- Put a couple of towels down both in the freezer and on the floor. These will catch the melting ice. If your freezer has a drain hole, George adds, it will need to be unblocked. Have a mop and bucket handy as there is always more water than expected.
- Mix baking soda in warm water and use a cloth to wipe down the inside of the freezer after all the ice has melted. This helps to suck up the odor and leaves the freezer clean and smelling fresh.
And voil�! George exclaims. You are all now ready for your next frosty stash in a clean freezer with minimal mess. And you’re ready, we hasten to add, for the Thanksgiving grocery shop.
Defrosting your freezer is an essential job to ensure it runs efficiently
If theres a buildup of ice in your freezer, it has to work harder to regulate the temperature inside. This is particularly true if the ice builds up around the fan.
As a result, youll pay more for your energy bills.
Keeping it clear of ice also means you have more space to store food (and& sweaters&).
Defrosting a freezer can take a full day, although you can expedite the process with Georges hot water and hairdryer tricks.
Its also worth noting that new freezers and fridge-freezers tend to have a frost-free feature, which means there should be no need to manually defrost them. This advice therefore applies only to older models, although they probably still make up the majority of freezers in use today.
George Crew has over 30 years of home renovation experience. Hes a licensed general contractor and runs Chicago Paint Crew.
