How to Defrost a Refrigerator

Have you ever faced thick layers of ice inside of your freezer? And that was definitely not that ice for making refreshing cocktails. Familiar situation, isn’t it?

If a thick layer of ice is lying in your freezer for months, it makes your refrigerator work harder and use more electricity. Efficiency of your kitchen appliance is getting weak.

The described below tips will help your refrigerator work trouble-free. Thus, life of your refrigerator will be prolonged as well.

How long does it take to defrost a freezer

The first thing you are to do is to unplug your appliance completely. Some models have a switch to turn the freezer off, so you may use the switch for this purpose.

Prepare old towels and baking trays. Put them on the floor around your refrigerator and under its edges. There will be lots of water, so you should be ready to catch water on time.

Take out all food and put it in a cool place. If you don’t have a special cooler at home, you can wrap products up with cooling packs in some blanket.

There is a drainage hose in most refrigerators. You can find it on the bottom of the freezer. Set the end of the drainage hose in a bucket or another basin – it will help water go away directly to a vessel.

Defrosting will take about a few hours, much will depend on how thick the ice layer is.

drainage hose

See what next steps you have to take:

Defrosting a Fridge in steps

So, you have unplugged your refrigerator, put towels and trays and took out all the food.

To speed up the process of defrosting, you may put a jar with a hot water into a freezer compartment. There are many other methods like using hairdryer or vacuum cleaner hose. We don’t recommend to pay heed to these suggestions since water don’t really get on well with electrical appliances. Keep yourself far away from possible danger. Let ice melt in a natural way.

When defrost starts, water will drain and gather on the floor. Sponge up water from floor with towels you have prepared.

defrosting with a hairdryer

Removing the Frost Layer

Now you may take all removable shelves and drawers out from your freezer. If it is difficult to pull out some shelves or details, don’t hurry up. Wait until ice melts a bit more so you will easily remove those shelves and drawers. Put all removable parts of freezer into a basin filled with warm soapy water – they should soak for a while.

If you scrape layers of ice with spatula, the melting process will go forward a bit faster. Scrape ice and collect it in some bucket or basin. Be careful with scraping as you may damage the surface of your freezer.

You may put some jars with hot water in different sections of freezer to make ice melt faster. Change jars with water every 5-10 minutes as they quickly get cold. Be careful with hot water, don’t scald yourself.

Go on with scraping with a spatula. In a while your freezer will be completely defrosted.

Returning the Freezer to Working Mode

Once your freezer is defrosted, you may start cleaning it.

Mix warm water with soda (1 tablespoon of soda to 4 cups of warm water). Baking soda will ease cleaning and remove unpleasant smell. Wash the whole interior of freezer with a rag and water: walls, bottom, lid and door. Don’t leave any moisture because it will transform into frost again.

Wash all shelves and drawers which you put into a basin with soapy water. First scrub all items with a brush, and afterwards, rinse them with clean water. Dry up them thoroughly with a towel – all the details have to be completely moisture-free.

You have cleaned the inside of your freezer, all shelves and drawers are clean and dry. It is high time to set everything back into the freezer. We advise you replace the food. Store meat and seafood in sealed containers on the bottom of the freezer, thus, you will prevent any liquid dripping. Don’t mix up various products: vegetables should be kept with vegetables, berries – with berries and so on. Avoiding a mess and keeping food in order will help you find a particular product easier.

Your fridge is ready to be plugged in. Well done!

soda for fridge

Care & Repair recommends to defrost your freezer regularly every 3-4 months. It won’t take much time, but it will definitely save your health and money. Your food won’t get spoiled, and lifetime of your refrigerator will be extended for years. In case you suppose your refrigerator doesn’t function properly, our certified technicians are 24 hours ready to come to your place in Toronto and fix a problem. We are familiar with all brands and marks of refrigerators like Bosch, Samsung, Maytag, Whirlpool, Indesit and many others. You can easily rely on professionals of Care & Repair.

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