Defrosting freezer - why and how?

[RebeccaJames]

Subject line says it all really... Never done it before. Should I? And where does my steam cleaner fit into things??

Why - in my case, because I can't get the door at the top to open any more without it grinding over the built-up ice...

How - take everything out and store it somewhere it will stay cold - I turn my fridge down to its lowest setting and put everything in there, but options also include piling it up and putting blankets or newspapers over it, or cool bags.

Then I put a bowl of very hot water inside and a wrung-out cloth at the bottom, and a bing bag on the floor outside.

Then I get bored waiting and scrape at it with a plastic scraper which came with the previous one. Or a wooden spatula. Anything that will go through the frost without damaging the surface.

Then I get very bored and slop out the hot water, and try frantically to mop up the trickles (floods...) of water.

I don't have a steam cleaner, but I'd guess you just wave it at the frost and prepare to mop...

When it starts building up ice.
Not needed if you have a no frost freezer.
These days I only do it at work (lab).

Apparently a hair drier is very good.

A steam cleaner will blow steam. A hair drier blows dry hot hair and should melt the ice faster.

In any case, remove as much as the ice as possible with a scraper to avoid pools of water, but be careful not to damage the walls or shelves.

OK so apart from frost build-up, there's no reason to put yourself through it? It has no other purpose?

It's just for removing the frost buildup, so if your freezer doesn't have that problem, you really don't need to bother. I suppose you might want to take everything out and wipe a cloth over it sometimes? Maybe? Or not... it's not like it's getting dirty!

When I've builds up I sling everything into a cool bag and set to work with a hairdryer, a wooden spatula and some old towels to mop up with. Very satisfying!

Ice!

frost buildup shrinks the freezer and wastes energy.

eat it empty and time your defrost for the summer. Scrape with plastic or wood only, never metal. Bowls of hot water in it speed things up.

Eat contents. Fun meal coming up.
Turn off at wall , leave over night with washing up bowl at bottom.
Place towel under bowl.
Wait for large thump noise as ice hits bowl in middle of night. ( very satisfying)
Mop up water left at bottom .
Refill

I've found a small portable fan heater placed on a nearby chair to blow into direction of the open freezer works super-fast. Same principle as hairdryer but more powerful and you don't have sit there holding it. Whole shelves of ice just fell into the bottom tray in minutes.