Few people remember how difficult the refrigerator defrosting procedure was a few decades ago. The defrosting process then involved not only removing the frost cover, which covered the evaporators, but also turning them upside down. This should be done every month.
Today, most of the modern refrigerators have a modern self-defrost system, that prevents the evaporators from frosting up. So the need for defrosting and cleaning the refrigerator is only once or twice a year.
How often you will need to defrost refrigerators depends on how often you open the freezer. Frequent opening of the door raises the humidity in the refrigerator, which leads to the frosting up the freezer.
The frost itself does not harm the refrigerator. However, since ice has a low thermal conductivity, it makes freezing food worse, because it prevents normal heat exchange between the evaporator and the products themselves.
When defrosting the refrigerator, you should let the products come off the sides, do not try to remove them by force if they are blocked with frost or ice, because there is a risk of damaging the lining or elements of the refrigerator.
Defrosting begins with the removal of all products from the freezer and the refrigerator section. Those products, which can spoil quickly are placed in a box or in a container of cold water.
The appliance is unplugged, the door is left open and a thick towel is placed on the bottom of the refrigerator and on the freezer to soak up the melted ice.
You can speed up the refrigerator defrosting process by placing a bowl of warm water in the freezer. Do not under any circumstances try to remove the ice with sharp objects, because you may damage the walls of the freezer or the evaporator.
When the ice melts, dry the refrigerator and freezer, wash them well and turn the appliance back on.
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