Frozen freezer=red, sore, cold, hands

Miscellaneous and Personal Stuff I Must Share
1

So, Mr. Taters and I decided we needed to clean out the ol’ garage. We also decided it was time defrost the frozen freezer.

We’ve had ol’ Frosty about three years now and have NEVER, EVER, defrosted it. We moved it to our new house, full of frozen food and frost about two inches thick, last May, thinking we’d defrost it when we finished moving in. HAH!

So at 10:00 a.m. I head out to the garage and approach the Ol’ Frosty with some trepidation. I open the freezer, and quickly slam it shut. Then I slowly open the door again. I sigh, turn off the freezer and start scraping, and scraping, and scraping frost.

My hands turn red and raw and start going numb. Time to go in and run them under some water, check the Straight Dope, and have a little more coffee. Fifteen minutes later, I head back out to the freezer. Sigh, still there, still frozen. Scrape, bang, scrape, bang, chip, ouch dammit! scrape, bang, scrape, chip, bang. My tool of choice? A plastic spoon thingy that came with my rice cooker. Such a lethal weapon…

Hands are frozen again. Must warm them up. Back to the kitchen sink, turn on tap, run warm water over them. “Hmmm”, says I. “I should place a pot of hot water in Ol’ Frosty. That should help speed up the defrosting process!” So, I fill a pot and trot on out to the freezer.

I let the pot sit for a while, then back to the ol’ scrape, chip, bang, ouch dammit!, bang, scrape routine.

Well, it’s now 3:38 and Ol’ Frosty is still not done. :mad: :frowning: My hands hurt and are raw! Now the scraping and chipping are accompanied by drip, drip, sop up water on the bottom of the freezer, wring out the towel, drip, scrap, bang, chip.

When, oh when will the frozen hellish experience be over?! I will NEVER, EVER, EVER, let Ol’ Frosty freeze up again. Yuppers, I’ve learned my lesson. I will never abuse my friendly freezer again!

Sigh, I must return to scraping, banging, wiping, and wringing. I think Mr. Taters will have to cook dinner tonight. I can’t feel my hands.

2

Well, eight hours later, the monumental task is completed. My hands are frozen and red, but it’s finally done.

One might question why I foolishly did this without gloves. Well, because I didn’t have any and I didn’t want to go buy a pair just to clean the dang freezer.

So, tomorrow morning, I’ll clean it with soap, bleach and water and it’ll be just like new. Then later this week, we’ll go to the butcher and buy a good sized meat package and stuff it all in there.

Six months from now, I’ll probably be doing this all over again. :rolleyes:

3

This is NOT advice and I’m NOT recommending anyone else do this BUT <g> when my freezer got to the point yours was at, I’ve taken a hammer and ever so lightly tapped the walls of the freezer - the ice fell off in big chunks that I scooped into a bucket and emptied into the sink. TADA - it was done :cool:

4

I find good hot water in a spray bottle helps, it is also good fun to shoot off the lumps of ice, you need to be using it on the jet rather than spray setting. I also find that plastic bags make passable emergency gloves for something like this, keeps your hands dry anyhow, a pair of socks within the bags would defeat the cold to a certain extent. If your hands are all chapped to hell now, you might want to try the home-remedy of soaking them in potato puree.

5

You don’t have a hair dryer?

A hair dryer, carefully applied, will defrost freezer in a lot less than 8 hours.

6

How long does it take a freezer to defrost if you just unplug it and leave the door open?

7

Smackfu - I DID turn off the freezer and leave it open. However, there was quite a build up of frost and ice, due to the kids not shutting the door completely on numerous occasions.

Finagle - Yup, I’ve got a hair dryer (three of them, in fact), and even thought about using one, but then I would have had twice the water mess in a lot quicker time. There was a lot of ice built up in there. I’m embarrassed at how bad I let it get. Its the ol’ “out of sight, out of mind” thing because it’s in the garage.
Iteki- I’m smacking myself upside the head right now! That solution just reeks of common sense. I SHOULD have thought of that. I was just using a pot of hot water that I would set on the various shelves and trying to let the steam and heat from the pot do some of the work.

Adoptamom_II- You are braver than I! Believe me I want to bang it with a hammer a few times. But, I was afraid I’d crack something.

8

Sounds like it’s time for the Bag Balm! Farmers used to put it on the teats of cows to keep them from getting raw and sore and sensitive. The side benefit was that farmers started having hands with skin that was soft as a baby’s. The Vermont Country Store, among other places, started selling it in their catalog just for hand care. It smells funny but it works!

It is also hilarious to have it out in the bathroom when guests come. It’s a pretty little container with cow teats on it.

You might find it at the drugstore. If not, soak your hands in Vaseline and wear gloves to bed.

And don’t ever do housework again!

9

Zoe, I used to have Bag Balm on hand. That stuff is a godsend, however, it disappeared in our move, and I never thought to get some more.

I like the suggestion at the end of your post better…NEVER DO HOUSEWORK AGAIN! That would be great, but, I’m not quite financially comfortable enough to hire someone to do it for me. I’d turn my kids into housekeepers, but frankly, I waste more time arguing with them to do their chores, than it would to get the work done.

Ah, well. I’m good for another six months or so on the freezer.