My grandfather had been dead awhile when my grandma said he had had a hairdryer and did I want it? Hrm? Grandpa had a fringe of white hair that hardly seemed to need drying. Turns out he used it to dry his water colors.
This was reinforced during Julianne Moore’s famous scene in Short Cuts.
A manly man would modify the instructions by pointing a fan at the open fridge and circulating the hot room air in and defrosting it an a fraction of the time.
Am I a manly woman, then? I put a space heater on a ladder in front of the freezer compartment. Unplug fridge. Plug in space heater.
Done in 90 minutes.
Oh dear. This calls for a very special blend of psychology … and EXTREME VIOLENCE.
That’s why I said, “pretty much”. The “marketing” bit was a joke 
BTW all the ones I’ve used had an adjustable temperature. The one we have at work now even has a digital control and sensor.
I ruptured one of the coolant pipes in the freezer box of my old fridge doing this. Note the term ‘old fridge’.
That’s right kids, sharp objects can damage things!
I wasn’t even trying to defrost it or get rid of the ice, I’d just ran out of ice cubes and wanted the thick layer of frost for my bong…probably explains a lot!
I was going to regret using ‘manly’ when it undoubtedly should have been ‘metrosexual’ … but then I wouldn’t have got all the fine responses above! 
The defrost is now over and I have duly updated my CV.
I was using a tray as the container to catch all the dripping, then carefully picking up the tray and attempting to ferry the water to the nearby sink.
After one or two heart-stopping wobbles, I realised I could use a sponge to transfer the water safely…:smack:
Basement freezer…
Remove food to coolers.
Connect garden hose to hot water heater.
Blast away.
Sweep water into sump in corner.
Dry shelves and interior w/ towels
Replace Food.
Defrosting takes about 15 minutes with this method.
Be careful with a tourch. If you overheat the gas it will break down and no longer be a refer gas.
When I had a freezer that would create glaciers, I would go to town attacking it with a fire ax. Great fun was had!
This is the pinnacle of manliness, although sometimes I substitute Jack Daniels.
Ooohhhh, thanks for the tips.
I will so be manly now drying my hair with a Heat Gun - or a propane torch! What??
That’s what I do! You don’t need intense sources of heat like boiling water or heat guns, just a LOT of air that’s warmer than the freezer. And then a plastic spatula to remove any ice loose enough to come out, so you don’t have to wait for it to melt. Even the most glacial freezer takes 90 minutes or less.
Dammit, that sounds FUN!
The traditional manly method remains to attack the glacier with a combination of
A 50 cc syringe full of boiling water [Manly, because it involves stealing the syringe from the lab or hospital or getting a friend to do it] used to create tunnels in the ice adjacent to the metal box
a carving knife inserted down the tunnels and twisted to break off ice blocks [Manly, its in knife]
a cell phone to call the ambulance after the freon burn / laceration. [involves danger]
pants with big pockets for stealing syringes [ go to #1]
Sounds like how we did it @ the chemical plant, except that we used low-pressure steam. The refrigerators there were old, rounded-cabinet jobs made when fridges were lined with porcelain- coated metal. So maybe sticking with 120-140 degree domestic hot water is the way to go with this modern plastic.
I’ve also used one of those calrod-loop electric charcoal starters on the metal floor of a 1-door landlord special’s freezer compartment with excellent results. Blow dryers just aren’t hot enough, as their thermostats have to be set low enough to avoid singeing hair/ burning scalp and neck flesh.