Timely defrosting your refrigerator is very important as otherwise this becomes the most common reason to go for refrigerator repair. Below are a few tips to defrost your refrigerator efficiently which can also help in increasing its lifespan.
Use Scraper
You get scrapers while purchasing refrigerators which you need to keep safely as using them is the best method of defrosting your refrigerator quite quickly. However, you need to be very careful and use it very safely as it may damage the walls of the refrigerator as well.
And if you have misplaced the original scraper, you can also use a wooden spoon or plastic spatula as an alternate to scrapers. But make sure that anything you use as an alternative to scraper should not have pointed ends which can damage the refrigerator walls.
Pour Mild Hot Water on Ice
This is considered as a very old yet traditional way of defrosting refrigerators where you can pour mild hot water on ice to melt it in seconds. You can also use normal tap water at room temperature if you do not feel comfortable with mild hot water. It will serve the same purpose but make sure to keep towels or something which can absorb splashes of water plus melted ice to avoid mess around your refrigerator.
Use Hair Dryer
Sounds weird? Well, it may sound weird but trust me this method really works well and in fact I am sure you will thank me later for this. You just need to make sure to keep the dryer and the cord away from water and ice chunks.
Also, remove ice from one place at one time so that you can assure your hairdryer is not overheating. Along with this, you need to be careful that you do not bring dryer too close to the walls or coils of freezer as the speedy and high amount of heat from dryer may damage the unit. When you feel the edges are melted, use a plastic scraper to pull off the ice outside completely as the heat from dryer loosen the ice off walls quite quickly.
Use a Hot Metallic Spatula
You can heat the metallic spatula by keeping it over the flame directly and then press it against the ice in the freezer which will quickly loosen the ice from the walls of the refrigerator. However, this method is quite dangerous and challenging for both the cleaning person and the refrigerator as well so you have to be extra careful if you are using this method.
You can wear oven mitts to keep yourself safe from getting burnt through hot metallic spatula and you need to keep the spatula away from the walls of the refrigerator to prevent any big damage. Generally, this method is not at all recommended by specialists as the chances of accidents are very high. But many people still go for this method as it gives very quick and efficient results but using precautionary measures is very important in this situation.
Let the Ice Melt Itself
The simplest and safest method of defrosting your refrigerator is to unplug it, empty it and then wait for the ice to melt itself. However, it is a very long process too as it will almost take your five to six hours which sounds very impractical.
And also, your frozen items like meat or any temperature sensitive medicine can also get harmed this way. Usually this process is neither used by people nor recommended by the specialists as well.
Use Pans of Boiling Water
Another traditional method of defrosting refrigerator is putting the pan of boiling hot water inside and then close the door of the refrigerator. And since the walls of freezer are well sealed so the steam of boiling water will loosen the ice off the walls.
Wait for around thirty minutes and then pull off ice from the freezer using plastic scraper. However, you have to be careful about one thing here and that is putting a tripod stand or thick layers of towel under the pan of boiling water. It is because keeping it directly on the shelf of refrigerator will definitely damage the surface of the refrigerator and you might need to go for refrigerator ice maker repair Fairfax.