We've got this upright freezer that we've had for 32 years. It was never a self-defrost, so that's something I've got to do about once a year. Well....I decided that today was the day. So after supper, I boiled 4 pans of water, removed all the stuff from the freezer and placed them in two large cooler chests, unplugged the freezer, and then put the pans in the freezer to begin the thaw. I always place towels along the floor to absorb any drips that get through when I open the door to take out the pans and re-heat the water. While the water is re-heating, I chip off whatever ice has melted, and put new towels in the bottom, and place towels on the lower two racks after they have thawed. Then, repeat with the pans of boiling water. After three times of this, the top rack finally thawed out really well, and I was able to chip all the ice out. Then...dry all the racks and plug it in and wait for about an hour till it's cold again. Then, replace the food back into the freezer from the two ice chests. All in all...it took about 3 hours from start to finish. Then I washed all the towels. Glad this task only comes up once a year!!