So you dropped your phone in the toilet, you knocked a glass of water onto it or you jumped into a pool and forgot it was in your pocket. There are a million different reasons how you phone ended up soaking wet but when it happens after the immediate panic you need a plan on what to do next. Here is a guide to rescuing your phone from water damage and it just might save your phone’s life.
- Get it out! If you phone is still sitting at the bottom of the pool or just resting in the puddle of water, get it out. The longer your phone is in the liquid the greater the likelihood of damage will be.
- Unplug it! If you can, take the battery out of your phone. Don’t even bother taking the time to power your phone off, don’t press any buttons just open the phone and take the battery out. If you can’t easily open the phone (iphones and some other phones) then as quickly as possible turn the phone off, remember you are trying to prevent a short circuit.
- Dry it off! Now you might think it is a good idea to use a hairdryer or put your phone in the oven or microwave to dry it out but these options could severely damage your phone. Instead just quickly wipe the phone off with a clean towel.
- Rice, it’s not just for dinner! There are a couple options to fully dry your phone out but rice is the cheapest and easiest. Wrap your phone loosely in a paper towel before dropping it into a bag of dry rice. Once it is in the rice, let it sit undisturbed for 24 to 36 hours.
- Synthetic is quicker! If you have time to prepare for possible water damage it may make sense to keep some synthetic desiccants on hand as they are far less messy than rice and work more quickly. You can order Electronics Rescue Pouches or Dry-All online for less than $20 and just store them until needed.
Following these tips there is a good chance that your phone could survive its incident.
