SE airplanes in clouds - near freezing level

Those of you, who frequently fly SE airplanes without deicing
equipment, without turbo or second engine but use their IR Ticket to
poke around in water loaded clouds at or near freezing level:

What are your strategies to cope with the weather ?

Situation1: You climb through low clouds, but pass the freezing level
on top in clear sky.
After flying at -20°C for a while, you start your descend into the
water loaded clouds.
How quickly does the plane ice up? The airplane skin is relatively
small, so the exposed mass should be quickly warmed.
What are your personal experiences with the type of cloud? A heavy
loaded nimbostratus will have a different effect as a cirrus, for sure.
How do you preplan such a flight?

Situation2: While climbing through subcooled low clouds, what is the
most practical strategy? Climb further to reach real cold layers, which
are almost dry?
Quickly descend to reach warmer layers?
It depends?