Defrosting freezer

[SOT3]

I have just spent hours defrosting my freezer which shamefully I hadn't defrosted for about three years. The drawers were stuck in solidly with thick ice.

I never want to be in this situation again, and just wanted to ask how often we are meant to defrost the freezer, and how do you actually do a 'maintainance' defrost to stop the ice building up so badly again?

I don't think theres a set amount of time to do it in just when ice forms inside which is probably different for every body.

I always use a hairdryer to melt all the ice as it only takes an hour even though you're not supposed to but unfortunately I don't have anywhere to store the frozen stuff whilst i'm defrosting the freezer! I'm always puzzled as to what you're supposed to do with the frozen food while defrosting.

I use up as much freezer food as possible, and the rest either goes in cool boxes with the big freezer chiller blocks or in the fridge. If anything is going back in the freezer I defrost it quickly with a blow heater set up in front of it. I'd never refreeze high-risk foods though, and put the 'needs using up quickly' things into one drawer when I put them back so they don't get forgotten.

i'm glad i'm not the only one who uses a hairdryer/blow heater to defrost the freezer 😀

It didn't even occur to me that it was dangerous! It's nowhere near enough to touch the ice and I lie a towel down on the floor to stop any stray puddles from creeping up to it!

6-9 months. Take out all the drawers and stack to one side. Use a hairdryer and lots of thick towel and a plastic scraper to speed defrost..

I presume its quite a old frezzer as many newer ( 10 years old or less ) tend not to ice up.
Check the seals are in good condition so that no air or moistureis gettingin , you can buy replacement ones if needed.

Fill empty space with card / paper extra bread / so the ice has no where to 'grow'

My mum always used to put the food in a binbag, layered with duvet/blankets and newspaper, and then considered it fine for many hours so I do too. Or if you do it in winter simply putting it outside helps a lot. Frozen things take hours and hours to defrost at 4 degrees. If you are feeling v keen you can freeze a couple of big bottles of water or even 4 pint bottles of milk, add them to the frozen stuff and they will work as extra icepacks.

We've had frost free models for quite a long time now though.

It might be worth looking up the electricity usage of your freezer - modern ones are probably more efficient and you might find a new frost free one would pay for itself quite quickly.

I do mine October time when it’s cold enough to leave the bagged up frozen food outside (I use those padded bags to keep the cold in). Put bowls of boiling water in the freezer and it takes about 2 to 2 and a half hours to complete the job.

Having said all that I’m going to get a new one to save all this faffing about.

As another poster, get all the stuff, still in drawers in a pile and put it in the coolest room you can manage and stick a couple of duvets over it

Scrape off as much as possible with a wooden spatula. I have a dust pan and brush that I keep for this to get the soft snowy stuff out.

I used to use a hair dryer but really can't be bothered now. I just leave to door open with tea towels scattered about and occasionally give it a poke

I take out all the drawers in mine and then put bowls of boiling water on each shelf, my freezer did have a cool little insert you put in the bottom to funnel the water out but it got lost which is quite annoying.

I transferred all my chest freezer stuff over to the upright fridge freezer then get busy emptying out the ice chunks. Like others I use a dustpan and brush to speed it up then use a butter knife handle to tap the ice off bit by bit...takes about an hour to do it all.

Did it at the beginning of July as it was so bad.

Automatic defrost is amazing!

Can you explain how it works please? I’m going to get a fridge freezer and get rid of the separate fridge and freezer. I always wondered how you defrosted the freezer part of a fridge freezer too! Any help appreciated.

When I replaced my chest freezer I got an upright one which has auto defrost, but I'm sure I've seen combination fridge freezers for sale where the freezer section has this feature. Maybe someone can recommend a good brand?

My previous freezer broke during lockdown...really awful timing! All the local shop had in stock was a Blomberg which I had never heard of, but I have been really pleased with it. I never have to think about defrosting, it just happens. I do occasionally give it a clean out but not as often as my fridge!

I use a rolling pin and just smash the ice away…quick and effective!

Thanks, I’ll have a look at that brand. I’m also currently looking at a Hisense one. It’ll free up some space too getting rid of the two separate ones.

Bloody hell! 🫣

Thank you all so much for the really helpful replies, I appreciate your help very much.

By the way SOT3, I meant to say, check your thermostat control - I had mine up too high so it iced up quicker. It will tell you the recommended settings in your instructions and if you’ve mislaid them, you can put your model in google.

Thank you so much for this tip, I will do that.

I have a Samsung fridge/freezer on which the fridge section occasionally throws a wobbly and temperature drops to zero, causing certain foods to be pulped and binned. On the most recent of these events, I contacted Samsung via Messenger who eventually said I should contact their nearest repairer, who said I should do a 48 hour defrost first (despite the user manual stating defrosting happens automatically and there is no frosting on the freezer walls). On contacting Samsung again with this advice, they said should not be needed, but perhaps go along with repairers’ advice. I now do not know what to do especially as to defrost I will need to find a neighbour with enough spare space in their fridge and freezer for two days +. Anyone else had this problem??

@ferdieone you might do better to start your own thread. No I haven't experienced this, but this time of year I would either ask Samsung to recommend a different engineer for a second opinion or run your freezer and fridge contents right down before you do it and just make do for a couple of days. If you have a garden then milk in a bucket of cold water outside the back door. My parents lived for a year without a fridge when they got married. You shop differently but making do for a couple of days is quite doable, just like when you go camping etc. Ketchup, cheese, sauces, spread, veg will be fine for a couple of days outside or in a garage. Steer clear of things like ham, fish and raw meat.

Sounds so stressful. Mine is new but still froze up. I took out a drawer, dumped contents on floor, hacked ice off with a metal spatula.

put ice in drawer and floated it in the bath, told kids 8,6 and 4 to get in (it is big!) and left them to it.

carried on through the drawers occasionally carrying more ice, frost etc up to the bath. They loved it!
didn’t take long, threw a kettle of boiling water in to help get it all off, towel under freezer. All done in 20 mins food still frozen.

May need to become an influencer for cheap children entertainment with household tasks mixed in!