How to Prevent Frost in Your Freezer

by Quick and Dirty Tips

Freezers accumulate frost because the cold air pulls moisture out of the foods you are freezing. Cold air can’t hold the moisture like warm air can, so it has to accumulate somewhere - and in a confined space like a freezer, it’s going to accumulate on the walls and shelves.
Here are a few ways to prevent this from happening....

how to prevent frost in your freezer, appliances, cleaning tips, home maintenance repairs, how to

Tip Use Oil

One suggestion you may find online is to wipe down the walls of the freezer with oil. This will create a slick surface that ice can’t stick to. This is an OK option, but you aren’t really solving the problem of humidity in the freezer.

Tip Seal Food Tightly

To actually reduce the amount of moisture in your freezer, always securely package your food. Using a sealing machine to pull the air out of the packaging is the best option, but at the very least, use sealed bags and containers, and squish as much air out of the container as you can before putting it in the freezer.

Using a sealed bag or container will prevent the moisture from creating frost inside the freezer, while squishing the air out will prevent the moisture from creating frost inside the package. All food, and even open bags of ice, will give off moisture in a freezer, so make sure all your food is sealed.

Tip Keep the Freezer Full

Another way to prevent moisture in your freezer is to keep your freezer full. The less air there is in the freezer, the more the frozen food keeps the space cool. The more the food keeps the air cool, the less the freezer has to run - which will save you money on your monthly bills in the short term, and in the long term help prevent the expense of an early freezer death.

If you don’t have enough food to fill the freezer, consider stocking it full of jugs of water (or ice), or balls of newspaper. Both will take up space, but the newspaper will also absorb some of the moisture and fill some of the space, so the freezer doesn’t have to work as hard.

Preventing frost from building up is the easiest way to keep your freezer running efficiently and looking great inside. Now that you know how frost builds up in freezers, how to defrost properly, and how to prevent frost from forming, you too can extend the life of one of the most expensive appliances in your home.

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2 questions

Ronda on Jan 16, 2019

How to get ink pen 🖊 out of my leather chair!!!

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Jeanie on Mar 15, 2019

Where I live there is only a tiny fridg with an even tinier little freezer compartment. I fill rinsed out & wash the individual jello containers to fill and make ice. It seems like I constantly have to defrost this little fridg. Is this normal? Seems to be here.

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2 of 6 comments

Carol Payne on May 02, 2017

Question: is a frost-free freezer better? I can't see a difference as far as ice forming on the food in plastic bags, or on the shelves and walls. I have heard that the freezer simply a
lows ice to melt a little in a cycle., then refreezes. So you still get freezer burn.

4 Reply
Nancy on Dec 11, 2017

Even "frost-free" will ice up if the door seal is not perfect. And freezer burn has to do with the amount of AIR trapped in with your food or food not wrapped tight enough to keep air out.

1 Reply