Fridge Drain: How To Unblock

Wipe up any standing water. Pour half a cup of hot water into the fridge drain. If it disappears without pooling, you’ve won. If not, repeat step 4.

You wake up, walk to the kitchen, and step in a small puddle of water in front of the fridge. Your first thought? "The fridge is dying."

If the drain keeps clogging every few months, buy a 99-cent piece of copper wire. Strip it, coil one end around the freezer heater element (if accessible), and drop the other end into the drain channel. The copper conducts heat down the tube and prevents ice dams permanently. how to unblock fridge drain

Pour hot water (not boiling—just hot tap water) into the freezer drain channel using a turkey baster. Watch for water to flow down into the fridge’s drain hole. Repeat until ice is gone.

Mix 1 part baking soda with 2 parts hot water. Flush through. Wait 5 minutes. Then flush with vinegar. The fizzing action breaks up biofilm and sludge. Finish with a hot water rinse. Wipe up any standing water

Modern fridges self-defrost. Melting ice turns into water, which flows down a small drain hole at the back of the freezer (or behind the crisper drawers) and into a pan where it evaporates.

Is Your Fridge Leaking Water? Here’s How to Unblock the Drain in 20 Minutes If not, repeat step 4

Most people forget the drain starts in the freezer. Look at the back wall of the freezer compartment. There’s a small channel or hole at the bottom center. That’s the top of the drain tube. If that’s frozen solid, your fridge will leak.