How To Clean A Deep Freezer

This weekend I decided to clean out my deep freezer. What I thought would be a really easy task actually taught me a few lessons about how to properly prep and clean a deep freezer.

This is the second or third time that I’ve defrosted my deep freezer in the entire ten years that I’ve owned it. If nothing much spills inside cleaning them out doesn’t have to very often.

How To Clean Your Deep Freezer

1 – Remove all contents.

The easiest way to do this is to begin eating from the freezer until it’s empty. About a month or so, depending upon what’s in your deep freezer, you can begin using up the contents in your deep freezer. The alternative is to store the food in another freezer for at least 24 hours while the freezer defrosts.

2 – Prepare the floor.

Before moving on to step 2, you’ll want to cover the floor immediately behind the freezer. I suggest newspaper and or a few cleaning towels.

3 – Turn off the power, unplug and leave the lid open.

This is a key step and should not be skipped. Leaving the top open was what I neglected to do and after only 24 hours of defrosting the inside stunk like sewage. It smelled so bad that it was another three days before I could stomach the smell. On the day I cleaned it I wore a face mask, used rubber gloves and gagged several times while cleaning the freezer. That’s not what I had envisioned and it wouldn’t have been if I’d known to leave the lid open. This is where the towels on the floor from step 2 come into play. Any ice on the inside freezer lid will drip down the back of the freezer and onto the floor.

4 – Quick pick up.

Remove and stray frozen food that may have gotten lost in the freezer. Cleaning up the frozen veggies of fruit will be much easier than once the freezer is defrosted and the stray food all wet and mushy. Now wait about 24 hours until the freezer is defrosted.

5 – Drying up water.

There are two ways you can handle the water that will accumulate in the bottom of your freezer. You can lay a few dry towels in the bottom of the freezer to soak up the water or use a wet dry vac. I used a small 16 oz. bucket to scoop out most of the water and then dried up to rest with a towel.

6 – Disinfect your freezer.

Now that all the hard work is done, it’s time to clean your freezer. Spray the entire inside of your freezer and begin wiping the bottom and walls working your way up. Next wipe off the inner lid of the freezer. Finally, wipe the rubber seal on the freezer.

7 – Power up and enjoy.

Now that your deep freezer is clean, plug it back up. Don’t forget to set the thermostat to your desired temperature.

Enjoy your shiny clean deep freezer.

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