Defrosting the freezer...

we have an older fridge, with the little freezer inside it (we also have a small freezer in our laundry)

the freezer is so iced up, the door doesnt shut properly! is there anyway to defrost it without turnng the whole fridge off? thats probably a silly question...

there is a little drawer thing under the freezer, that is just one bog iceblock! i often try pouring boiling water on it to see if i can get some of the ice away, but it never works...

maybe im just going to have to turn the whole lot off... how long do you think it would take to defrost?

We have a small under-counter freezer: it takes it about 4-5 hours to defrost, and we do this when the ice gets to about 1cm thick around the drawers (4 drawers). This is in the UK, where it's cold.

Don't buy any more fridge stuff, just use up what's in there for the next two days then acknowledge any milk/meat will be a write off and defrost the thing. It won't take long - try putting it in the garden to speed things up and so you don't have to mop up so much - and everything may be saved. But try to have next to nothing in there to start with just in case.

Good luck!

Wrap your frozens in newspaper and store in an esky.
To defrost put containers of hot water on the shelves and being very careful turn your hairdryer on full hot and direct it towards the ice.
It will defrost quickly. Just make sure you clean up the water as you go.