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A friend of mine called me the other day and told me that she had experienced some wild adventures while moving to another house. There was some comedy, and some horror, in her stories; but the action part was in moving the kitchen contents. And especially the freezer!
She hadn’t anticipated the many questions and decisions she needed to make, starting with defrosting the freezer, and whether or not she had to remove all the contents. Moreover, the actual move around the narrow corridors, down the stairs, and into the truck was full of surprises as well.
I wish we’d had that call before she made the move. Because then I would’ve explained in detail how to move a freezer in 7 easy steps! It’s actually a straightforward plan that you too can try if you have a similar situation.
Should You Defrost the Freezer Before Moving?
Here’s the thing: defrosting the freezer is a lot of work. And let’s be frank, most of us would try to avoid it whenever possible. Besides, we always have the big question of what would we do with all the food that’s been stored inside?
However, transporting the freezer from place to place always holds the risk of thawing the food stored inside. Once that happens, there would be puddles of water in and around the freezer. The movers’ truck would get wet, and worse still, your food would spoil.
That’s why it’s recommended to move the freezer after fully defrosting and emptying it ahead of time. A slight exception to this is when the move isn’t too far off. If you only need to transport your freezer to a short distance, then you could take the different route of leaving it packed.
In the coming sections, we’ll get into more detail about the nitty-gritty of each option. So whether you decide to defrost the freezer or move it packed, you’d find the right steps to take.
How Long to Defrost Freezer Before Moving?
Old freezers that don’t have an auto-defrost option, often take around two hours to shed all the accumulated ice.
That’s not an absolute figure though, since freezers have individual characteristics. Shape and size affect the rate at which the freezer thaws. Also, if you haven’t defrosted the freezer for months on end, the ice would be far more stubborn and clingy.
The season matters as well. On a chilly winter day, there wouldn’t be a huge difference between the freezer temperature and the kitchen temperature, or at least it feels that way! Defrosting would be rather slow, compared to hotter summer days, where the process would go much faster. `
Furthermore, defrosting time should include the time taken to remove all the food from the freezer, in addition to cleaning the freezer, and tidying up the area around it. The total time thus could be up a whole day.
How to Move a Freezer without a Hitch!
Now that we’ve answered the big questions of whether or not to defrost the freezer, and how long the process would take, let’s move on to the next steps.
Step 1: Plan Your Move As Early as Possible
Most of us shop in bulk, then, stock up the pantry and freezer. And as we cook for our families, we often need to freeze the remaining portions for later use. Some folks also prefer to prepare work or school lunches ahead of time and pop them in the freezer.
It’s thus quite normal to see the shelves of the freezer constantly occupied with all sorts of cooked and raw food. And it’s a lovely sight to tell you the truth. However, that state of affairs wouldn’t help much when the movers arrive. You’d have a ton of frozen food that you have to dispose of right away, in addition to defrosting the freezer.
To avoid this unsavory situation, you can opt for one of two alternatives:
Empty and Defrost the Freezer
stop replenishing the freezer and the pantry at least two weeks before the move. Try to use all the stored food, until your freezer is almost empty. Cooking limited portions for daily consumption might feel odd, but at this point, it’s a necessity.
Make sure that the day before the move you’d have an empty freezer that you can defrost and clean. On the big day, you wouldn’t have anything more to do with the freezer, and the movers can carry it onto the truck.
Pack Up the Freezer and Seal It
If the move is a short distance away (one that the truck can reach in less than an hour), then you don’t need to change anything at all from your shopping habits to the little crowd you have inside the freezer. Or maybe just a few tweaks.
Our biggest concern while moving a freezer is that it would start thawing, and the ice inside it would turn into water. Once that happens, the food inside the freezer would be affected, and the mover’s truck would get wet. Naturally, this is something we try to avoid as much as we can.
When you can be sure that the freezer would be out of one house and into the other before the ice melts, then you can keep everything inside. Just make sure that the food is packed tightly inside.
Bear in mind that the freezer would be bent left, right, and all around. So if there are many spaces between the food containers, then that stuff would be a mess before it reaches its new home. A good solution is to use ice bags as padding, or material to fill in the blanks. This way, the food would stay in place, despite all the moving and shaking.
Step 2: Check Out the Defrosting Options 
If you browse through the internet you’d find tens of different ways to defrost a freezer. Here are some of the options you’re bound to stumble upon:
- Place a pan filled with hot water in the freezer and refill the hot water every ten minutes
- Use the hairdryer to loosen up the ice
- Scrape the ice with some tool to get it off the freezer walls
Not to mention the multitude of substances people suggest you sprinkle on the accumulated ice. And some of that is seriously corrosive stuff!
I would just say that you should bear in mind two things: First, a freezer is a costly appliance, so it should be treated with caution to keep it in mint condition. And second, cutting corners doesn’t always give good results. You might’ve noticed that a quick fix is rarely quick, doesn’t always fix things, and most often comes with extra costs.
The three methods mentioned above might look good on paper. However, each one of them has a functional hitch that might complicate things a bit.
The Hot Water Option
The first suggestion, which is placing hot water inside the freezer, might be tolerable the first three times you refill the pan. Around the fourth time, you might start to feel a little aggressive and hostile towards the freezer. This process is exhausting, to say the least.
The Hair Dryer Option
Next, there’s the hairdryer thing. First of all, it’s not the safest thing in the world to use an electric appliance around spilling water. This alone should take this suggestion off the list. Still, there’s another reason why using a hairdryer doesn’t give stellar results. It causes the ice on the outermost layer to melt, while the bigger chunks remain stuck to the walls.
The Scraping Option
Finally, the scraping method. This suggestion is actually not a terrible one, as long as you follow a few simple rules. The most important thing is to avoid using sharp objects to attack the solidified ice. It could cause injuries, or puncture the freezer walls. Even a sharp dent could cause structural harm, as it would rust eventually. This, of course, wouldn’t be the best environment for storing food.
The Better Option
A better approach than the previous ones would be to unplug the freezer, open the door/doors, and leave the unit to defrost at its own pace.
The defrosting process is bound to generate water everywhere. So it’s best to use plenty of towels, bring a bucket close by, or if the sink is nearby you can use it. Place the towels inside and around the freezer to minimize the spread of the dripping water. And keep an eye on the freezer.
The ice would melt, and soon enough, you’ll see that the big slabs are separating from the walls of the freezer. That would be a great time to use a plastic scraper to get them off. As soon as a slab falls off, try to discard it in the bucket or the sink. This way, you’d cut down the water spiling from the freezing significantly.
Step 3: Defrost or Seal the Freezer
You’ve already made the decision of whether you’d defrost the freezer or pack it then ship it off. This step is the finalization of either process and getting the freezer in the form most suitable for transportation.
Finalizing the Defrosting Process
To make sure that the defrosting process is a seamless sequence of simple tasks, let’s recap what needs to be done, all the way to the final defrosted state.
- Decrease the amount of food in the freezer, whether it comes from shopping or cooked meals.
- Remove the remaining food from the freezer, and store it where it wouldn’t spoil. Remember that some foods can’t be refrozen.
- Unplug the freezer and leave the door/doors open for at least two hours.
- Place some towels on the shelves and around the freezer. As the ice melts, it’ll form puddles.
- Check on the large ice slabs. Wait till they start separating from the inside walls of the freezer.
- Remove the loose ice slabs with a plastic scraper. Don’t be harsh with the tool, if the slab is still solid and clinging to the walls, leave it a bit more.
- Throw away the ice into a bucket or a nearby sink.
- Bring a mop around you to tidy up the kitchen floor, and keep things from becoming messy.
- Once all the ice has melted away and all the water sponged, you’d need to clean the freezer with a suitable cleaning mixture. A dash of mild soap, baking soda, and warm water is often a good cocktail.
- Wipe off the cleaning mixture with a damp cloth, then dry the freezer thoroughly.
- Don’t line the freezer with oil to prevent re-frosting. Oil soon becomes rancid, and you don’t want that around your food.
- The freezer is now perfectly ready for the move.
Finalizing the Sealing Process
Sealing the freezer with all the frozen food inside is a much simpler process than defrosting it. Here’s the summary, and possibly a checklist, to plan for a hassle-free move.
- During the move, the freezer would be tilted, agitated, or even knocked over. So make sure the contents wouldn’t jiggle inside.
- Overstock the freezer, so that all the items are tightly packed. If you still have unused spaces, fill them up with ice bags. That’s possibly the cheapest and easiest way.
- The trip might take longer than expected, or the weather might be too hot, so some of the packed food might start thawing.
- As you arrange the food in the freezer, make sure to place the meats, chicken, fish, and similar on the lowest shelf. That’s to avoid them spoiling the rest of the foods if they thaw. By the same reasoning, the bread should occupy the highest shelf.
- Keep the freezer plugged to the very last minute. Arrange with the movers to carry it when they’re done with all the other stuff.
- Seal the freezer door with duct tape, then wrap the whole unit in a strong plastic cover.
- At this point, your freezer is ready for the move.
Step 4: Make Sure the Freezer Can Get Out
An important part of good planning is keeping a measuring tape in your pocket.
Measure all the dimensions of the freezer, then compare that to the corridors, staircases, and any other doors or gates you come across. That’s because some freezers are much wider than they’re tall, or vice versa. So to move them comfortably, you’d need to carry them in a certain orientation and not the other.
This is the case, by the way, for most of your large furniture pieces. You might want to apply the same approach with them as well.
Sometimes the door of the freezer needs to be removed for the unit to pass through a narrow corridor without scratching the walls. Other times, you might have to remove a room door to provide better access.
Step 5: Now it’s Time for Some Heavy Lifting!
Most often the movers bring along a couple of burly guys to do this heavy lifting. However, there are times when we don’t solicit such services, and then we need to figure out how to move this heavy object and get the freezer to its new home.
Most home appliances are heavy. Trying to push and drag such elephantine units on your own could be risky. Invite all the extra muscle you can get to help you out with that. And even then, you’d also need a few levers to facilitate the work.
It’s much better to have two people on the job. The bigger person would naturally load the freezer on the lever, and the other would stabilize it. Next, the leaner person would guide the muscular friend along the stairs, bends, gates, and all the natural obstacles on the way.
Loading the freezer onto the truck might be a bit of a challenge. The best way to do it is to tilt the freezer against the truck, then have someone push it upwards, while another would be on the truck trying to pull it up.
Step 6: The Freezer Should Be Last In First Out
This is especially true if the freezer is loaded and packed with food. You would want to avoid the dreaded untimely thawing, so keep it plugged till the last moment. Still, if it’s defrosted and empty, there’s no harm at all in making it the first item on the list.
The freezer would then be placed at the back end of the truck. So unloading it first is almost intuitive. Get it down from the truck and install it in the new house. At this point, it would be ready for plugging in.
Step 7: Install, Plug, and Restock
Some freezers can be plugged in as soon as they’re installed in place. But that’s not the case for all models. Some would need to settle down for a bit before being turned back on. Check the user’s manual for this data, google it, or ask the supplier for the right course of action.
Once the freezer is again up and running, you can restock it with all the delicious foods on the market!
In Conclusion
Planning a move is among the best things you can do. This would save your time, effort, and hard-earned cash. It would also keep your sanity and peace of mind since there are a million that can go wrong without a careful plan.
These were my 7 simple steps for moving a freezer. In addition to answers to your big questions about the necessity of defrosting, how to defrost, and how long this normally takes. The tips and tricks are all tried and true, so I hope they’d make your life easier as you make that move.
Further Reading
