- Dream Cheeky
Mini fridges can be a convenient way to keep your items cold and near you. As they age, the ice buildup can make them less efficient and decrease storage space. This can be reversed by defrosting, but it can cause a lot of damage if you aren’t careful.
Additional ice can also cause gumming of the mini fridge’s works and damage the motor if it is not removed immediately.
You’re in luck if you want to learn How to defrost a mini fridge without making a mess.
In this article, Dream Cheeky will walk you through the process step by step, give tips and highlight safety concerns that you should keep in mind. Are you ready to get started? Then let’s get going!
What Is A Mini-fridge?
The Mini-fridge, a smaller version of a refrigerator, is often found in a hotel, office, college dorm, or flats. This appliance is energy-saving and can be used to keep a limited number of meals.
You can also use this mini-fridge to store wine, beer, alcohol, and even water. This appliance might be found in a place where there is not much space.
A mini-fridge is required if you host a small party where you need ice cubes to make soft or hard drinks.
How To Defrost A Mini-fridge
Plan Ahead
Before you begin the defrosting process, there are some things you need to do. Although it may seem daunting, it is possible. When you get to the defrosting stage, it will all be worth it.
The day before you plan to leave you need to throw out, donate, or eat any leftover food in your mini fridge and freezer. Make sure you take out everything, including ice trays.
It is not necessary to keep anything indoors as it can grow mold. The freezer defrosts and sticks out after a break.
Remove All The Food
Then, you can leave your food in the fridge and simply leave the door open to the freezer while defrosting. If you have enough space, move the freezer items into the fridge. This maintains the chill while the fridge defrosts itself. Alternatively, you can place all food and drink into an enclosed plastic cooler for an hour.
While you defrost your mini-fridge, it will be temporarily out of service for a few days. It’s great if you can get your food to be kept by family and friends while you wait. If you cannot ask, it is time to use up the frozen food and make sure it doesn’t go to waste.
Do not buy new ingredients. Instead, use what you have. This is your chance to be as imaginative as possible!
We recommend making either a vegan Buddha bowl or a vegetarian pad Thai. These are great for cleaning out the fridge. They are also highly flexible, so you can adapt them to what ingredients you have left.
Tip: If you can’t live without your coffee creamer for the next morning, grab some creamer capsules from your school’s cafeteria. They don’t need to be refrigerated!
Unplug Mini Fridge
You can unplug your mini-fridge from a power socket when it is empty. This is important even if the mini-fridge has an “off” to ensure maximum safety.
Place A Few Towels Down
During defrosting, your fridge will release a lot of water. You should place a towel underneath the fridge, especially under the doors opening and on the floor surrounding it. Ensure that the towel has to be extended throughout the outside to catch dripping water and ice cubes. This will keep puddles and other debris from damaging hardwood and carpeted floors.
Pro tip: Use bath towels. They are thicker and more absorbent than paper towels. It’s not worth it to use paper towels. You’ll be a hero in the future for not skipping this step.
Save Shelves And Drawers
After that, take out all shelves and drawers. This will expedite the defrosting process and make it easier to move on to the next step.
If your mini fridge contains a freezer compartment, leave it open.
Then, Get To Work Defrosting
You can now get to work cleaning out your mini-fridge after all the preparation work is done.
Remove The Excess Ice
It’s a good idea for those in a rush to restore their mini-fridge to pristine condition to remove any excess ice manually.
Use a spatula to remove the frost from the walls of the mini-fridge carefully. You could damage your appliance if you go too aggressively. Be patient.
Place A Bowl With Hot Wine Inside
Once that’s done, you can boil water in an electric pot then pour it into your large pot. Would you please place it in your mini-refrigerator? The steam from your pot will increase the temperature in the fridge, causing the ice to melt faster. Keep the door open at all costs!
Cleaning The Mini-fridge
It would be best if you now had a frost-free mini-refrigerator after a few hours. It may take longer depending on where you live. There are still a few steps to go before you can call it done.
Washing Individual Components
First, clean shelves and drawers. This is done primarily for hygiene reasons. Use warm soapy water to wash them and let them dry.
Wiping Down The Inside Of The Mini-fridge
Next, clean the interior of the refrigerator. To get rid of stains or foul odors, use a warm soapy cloth with any cleaning agent of your choice. Grab a bag of baking soda at the grocery store. Sodium bicarbonate (the only ingredient in banking soda) helps absorb any offensive or funky odors.
Get Everything Dry
Before plugging in the mini-fridge or closing it, make sure it is completely dry.
Plug It Back In
After the mini-fridge has cooled, you can plug it in again. It will need to cool down for a while before you can use it again.
Other Ways To Defrost A Mini-fridge
1. Wait For The Ice To Melt
This is the obvious way: Unplug it, open your door, and wait for the ice to melt.
This method of defrosting is the easiest, but it takes the longest. This is also the safest method to defrost your freezer. Open the door and walk away. Be patient. You can use a sponge or thick towel to absorb the water as the ice melts. To absorb water left behind by the appliance, you might place old towels on the flooring.
Maybe you are like me and don’t have patience. Let’s take a look at some ways to speed up the process of defrosting.
2. Make Use Of A Fan
A fan is a device that circulates warm air to your freezer. This method is best if the temperature of your home is high enough to make a difference. This method is especially useful for those who have a deep freeze in their garage.
Place a fan outside the freezer, with its door open. The airflow will help the ice melt faster. This process will take some time, depending on how thick the ice is. You can speed it up by not putting in too much effort.
3. Heat A Metal Spatula
A hot metal spatula is a quick and dangerous way to defrost. To heat a hot metal spatula, wear an oven mitt. To break up the ice, press the spatula against the ice.
This defrosting method is not recommended as it can lead to injury or burns. It will help to quickly melt the ice in your freezer, which is why we mentioned it. Please be cautious if you use this method to speed the defrosting process.
4. Use a Hot Cloth to Rubbing alcohol
To loosen the ice, dip a damp rag into boiling water. Pour rubbing alcohol onto it. It would help if you concentrated on the edges. Grab the loose areas and rub the alcohol onto them. The frost should begin to melt pretty quickly. This method is best if you only need to remove a thin layer of frost and not large chunks.
5. Scraping
The most common method to speed up the defrosting process is probably scraping the ice. This route is safe.
To avoid slicing into your freezer’s wall or gas lines, you can use a traditional ice spoon, a plastic spatula, a plastic scraper, or a wooden spoon. This defrosting method should be used in combination with the other methods listed.
6. Use a Dry/Wet Vacuum
Set the vacuum’s switch to blow by using the smallest accessory nozzle. Begin at the top, and work your way down to all surfaces. A blow dryer is better than a regular hair dryer because it takes much less time, and you are not at risk of being electrocuted. Once the ice chunks break down, turn the vacuum on to capture the excess water and ice.
Next, move on to the next layer. Continue this process until it is all dry. This defrosting method can be used in combination with the other methods on this page for maximum efficiency.
After all the ice has melted, you can clean the freezer by adding a tablespoon of baking soda to hot, soapy water. Dip a sponge into the mixture, then rinse the freezer. Continue doing this until the freezer is clean. It would help if you dried the interior of the freezer door with a towel. To cool it down, plug it back in and close the freezer door. You can put the food back in the freezer within about half an hour.
Read more our related article Best mini fridge with freezer
Top 5 Do’s And Don’ts Cleaning A Mini-fridge
You will find a lot of negative advice on the internet. These are the five worst things to do with mini-fridges.
1. Don’t use metal scrapers
Metal scrapers can cause severe damage to your mini-fridge if they are too aggressive. Stick with plastic scrapers unless you are willing to spend a lot on repairs.
2. Don’t forget to dry the inside of the mini-fridge
The moisture inside your fridge will turn to frost quickly if you plug it in while it is still damp. All your efforts will be a waste.
3. Don’t use a blow dryer to defrost
You might be told by some to use a blowdryer quickly to remove the frost. Don’t do it. The plastic parts of the fridge can be damaged by heat from the blow dryer.
4. Don’t put perishable foods right away
It will take a while for your mini-fridge to cool down to food-safe temperatures.
5. Don’t wait for too long to do it
It will take longer to defrost your fridge. DON’T Wait until you can’t close the door to finally address the frost buildup, You should defrost when the ice thickness reaches 0.25 or 0.5 inches.
Conclusion
Defrosting a mini-fridge is not a challenging task. You just follow our guide to make your refrigerator better. We hope you find it helpful in this article.
