To be in my 30s and still need freezer defrosting advice!

[Toomuchbooty]

I have a combination fridge freezer and I'm really hoping someone can tell me it's possible to defrost freezer without having to turn my fridge off!

The freezer door was left open and it now literally full of ice and desperately needs defrosting but my fridge is full so I can't resort turn it off for a long period of time

I've tried the hot water technique before which wasn't very successful

Any advice would be gratefully received!

Also in this day and age I can't believe there isn't some way of turning the freezer off with out the fridge!

Thanks ladies. Methinks I'm going order an h2o mop.... oooooooh the excitement!

Would a wallpaper stripper work (just for the steam)

Yanbu.

Yabu to not own a frost free freezer that never needs defrosting though!. I've never defrosted a freezer.

Even frost free freezers get over-ruled by teenagers not shutting the door properly.
I'm a fan of the hairdryer myself.

I find a steamer works in this situation. Although my friend boils the kettle and pours it in. Hope this helps :-)

Any advice on how to defrost an integrated fridge/ freezer. I cannot even figure out how to turn it off without completely switching off the electrocity in the kitchen.

Focking integrated appliances--who ever thought these were a good idea??

I have gained an unnatural amount of satisfaction from this post!

I use a hairdryer as well.
I ruined a fridge freezer once by plonking a small fan heater in front of it.
Melted it!
I'm more careful now.

My upright freezer was iced like yours OP. So badly I couldn't pull the drawers out. It took over an hour with a rubber mallet and a chisel to get it to a state where I could move the drawers and shut the door.

It's in the basement and it's such a tight spot I was sweating despite being in front of solid ice. I had to strip off to bra and jeans. I cut my hand and it was so cold I didn't feel it until I saw all the blood.

It was hell but when I'd finished I felt like Ygritte after she'd climbed to the top of The Wall with Jon Snow

I'd never thought of using the steam mop

I did once many years ago, take to the fridge with a knife and punctured something and gas came out [oops]

This thread gives me hope that I can tackle my iced up monstrosity. I have a steam mop with detachable thingy so I'm going to give it a blast. I usually favour the hot water in tray method but it is so messy.

I defrost ours twice a year - in the spring and autumn when its not too hot. I put all the frozen food in the fridge, switch it off and wait. Takes about an hour. The frozen food in the fridge is still frozen when ready to switch it back on.

If you use steam or make it too hot, you risk causing the gases in the fridge to expand and escape.

I couldn't even shut the door on mine due to ice - flipping kids not shutting it properly after going in for ice pops. I hit it with a plain old metal hammer (not the claw end, obviously), and a huge sheet of ice came off straight away. Pallet knife for the rest of it then a cloth soaked in hot water to get rid of any remaining frost. Can't believe I've spent 20 years messing about with hairdryers.

We defrost once a year. Take freezer items out, place in fridge section if room, if not wrap in newspaper or blankets etc. Better if you can place wrapped items in a box. Put outside or in garage/shed, anywhere that's cool.

Switch off. We put bowls in the bottom and pour boiling water in. Replace as necessary and have plenty of tea towels, towels etc., to mop up mess.

Use plastic scraper - if you have kids get them to get on their knees and help. When clear put everything back

All the best.

Could you run down the contents before a shopping day? Wrap what's left in several sheets of newspaper, put in cool place. Put a shallow dish of boiling water on the base, having removed shelves if not too bunged up. Leave the freezer door open and scrape/bash the ice with a plastic spatula, use brush/dustpan to gather up and flick into washing up bowl which is placed on floor (on top of newspaper) just by the fridge door. It's a bit of a faff but doesn't take too long. Then bung the food back in the freezer. It hasn't killed me yet.

Keep a bowl/baking tray on a lower shelf to catch drips/pieces of ice at all times.
Use a metal fish slice and hammer (gently) to chip and scrape the biggest chunks/lose ice off into the tray -the more ice you get/collect the less water you make.
In such a bad case as the OPs I don't think that would work very well!
So use steamer or hairdryer at the top of the big chunks (near where the ice has grown from) until it has melted a bit to loosen -then try the fish slice/hammer approach...repeat until the huge chunks come off -put in sink to defrost!
Then stick a couple of pans of hot water -heat on stove but not quite boiling - in and close the door for 10 mins. Remove to reheat and go back to gently chipping... repeat as nec.
Get rid of any loose bits with steamer/hairdryer.
The drier it is inside the less quickly ice will build up -so dry it with a cloth.
You can use a dustpan and brush to sweep up water (and ice chunks before they melt) on the floor - rather than trying to mop up large amounts.
I have a carpet washer with a hose -so I used to use that to collect the water-from the freezer bottom/floor but now I have a cheap wet and dry handheld vac -have to keep emptying it but it is easier than cleaning out the carpet washer...or mopping.
I do mine every 3 months or so (I have 2) but mainly cos DCs/DP leave the door ajar on a regular basis so they ice up like mad - I do one after the other and can do both in less than 90 mins...maybe as little as an hour.
Frozen stuff that won't fit in the other freezer I put in one of those supermarket keep cool bags or leave in a drawer -you could cover with a towel but I don't both - tightly packed together keeps it frozen longer.
And I chose not to have a frost free freezer - unless they are better now when I looked you are supposed to defrost them every so often by leaving them switched off for 24 hrs -they get problems with ice build up where you can't see it if you don't and then malfunction - and the only way to deal with the ice is leave them switched off, you can't get to it to speed it up - a fridge service engineer told me they are more hassle than they are worth...

You defrost a freezer? (In my 40s and never heard of it before)

I use bowls of boiling water for a bit, wait till it's started to melt and then back at it with a plastic fish slice/ spatula thing? Doesn't damage the elements but gets it done quicker than waiting for it to defrost - also very satisfying when big chunks fall off!

I use windscreen de-icer and give it a good wipe out/clean when clear.

Steam mop is a cracking tip thanks!

Try and get a detachable steamer jobby.

Although I did DF with his plain old vax steamer it's not as much fun.

Washing up bowl for the chunks, the game is trying to take off the whole shelf in one piece.
Pretending to be a Ghost buster is optional but ime much more fun.

I think it's proper fucked with a hole in it, because the gas can't circulate if it escapes each time it gets to that section.

anyone selling a 2nd hand one cheap on Facebook near you?

When I was going out with my husband, he was sharing a flat with his brother and friend. I was coming over on Saturday night to go out and was going to cook them a roast chicken Sunday lunch to say thanks for letting me stay virtually all the time.

I mentioned to my then-boyfriend that I wanted to put a bag of peas in the freezer compartment. I got round and you could cut the atmosphere with a knife. He'd hacked away at the ice with carving knife and had pierced the seal. You could hear the gas hissing as it escaped. He was trying to seal the holes with tippex and plasters.

I didn't like to say that it would have been okay just to leave the peas to defrost in the fridge because we were going to eat them the next day.

He bought them a new fridge. It was a very expensive chicken dinner. I've since learned that my husband is a repeat offender for recklessly attacking problems and fucking things up.

Dh once tried to defrost our freezer with the soldering iron. this is not a very good plan,..,