Wet Phone? How To Get Moisture Out of Your Phone

Summary: This article discusses what to do if your phone gets wet. Taking immediate steps may help save your phone.

We depend on our cell phones for all kinds of functions beyond phone calls. Social media surfing, making appointments, texting, listening to music and podcasts, paying bills and performing other digital tasks. Considering our dependence on our phones, most users take them for granted. Many are relaxed about how they wear, store or carry their phones and expose them to potential physical abuse. Users drop, sit on and manhandle their phones as if they are indestructible. One of the most pervasive threats to cell phones is water. Water always finds a way in. Almost everyone has had a damaging or fatal exposure of their phone to water. Whether dropped into the toilet, a sink filled with water or a pool, the user reaction is usually the same: “#@$(!” However, every moment spent frozen in shock wastes precious time in a phone's safe recovery.

What To Do If Your Phone Gets Wet

Accidents happen to the best of us. How we respond to accidents is critical to mitigating their consequences. The good news is that many modern smartphones can withstand being submerged in water for short periods of time. Knowing how to get moisture out of your phone can help avoid a costly replacement. However, user success in saving wet phones requires quickly following these steps:

• Turn Off the Phone – If your phone was on when it got wet, turn it off immediately. All powered-up electronic devices are at risk when their circuitry gets wet. Prolonged exposure to water increases the risk of damage to circuits with current running through them. So, get your phone out of the water, power it down and leave it turned off. Resist the urge to test it while it is still wet.
• Remove Every Part You Can – This helps expose more surfaces for drying.
  • Remove your phone from its case and set the case aside to dry separately.
  • Take out your SIM card and its tray.
  • If you have an additional memory card, remove it.
  • If your battery can be removed, do so.
  • Remove chargers and headphone cords.
• Dry With a Very Soft Cloth – Certain parts of phones can be scratched if they are dried with the wrong cloth. Select a cloth suitable for cleaning eyeglasses and be gentle as you blot and dry as much as possible.
• Wait it Out – After doing all the drying you can by hand, wrap the phone and its components in dry, absorbent paper towels. Then, store them in a dry place. Leave everything drying for at least 24-48 hours, and do not power up the phone yet.

Once you have followed the steps listed above and have patiently waited for your phone and components to dry, turn it on. If you are lucky, your phone will boot up and operate perfectly. Even when the phone Gods are on your side, monitoring your phone for any malfunctions is essential. If the sound is muffled, your speakers may still be wet or ruined. If you have strange colors or lines on your screen, the screen might be damaged. Take note of any new symptoms so you can mention them to the phone repair technician.

Should You Dry Your Phone in Rice?

An old-school technique for drying cell phones included burying the phone in uncooked rice for 12 hours. The rice technique was used for a long time. Rice does not dry your cellphone any better or faster than following the steps listed above. In fact, the dust and starch from the rice can get into your phone and make matters worse. Wet rice is sticky, and you do not want any part of it in your phone. Dry silica gel packets would be a better option, but most users do not have a ready supply of these in their home.

Even if your phone seems to have dried out and is fully functional, bringing it to a reputable mobile device repair specialist is a good idea. Professional device diagnostics and repairs for your phone are as important as computer repairs for your desktop, laptop or tablet computer. When the technician opens your phone, they can conduct a liquid damage assessment and perform a more thorough check for remaining liquid, electrical shorts any issues that are likely to arise in the future (especially for submersions in anything other than clear water).

I’m In a Hurry - Can I Use My Blow Dryer?

If you rush it, you might ruin it. Using a blow dryer or any other heated device to dry your phone is a terrible idea. Using a blow dryer can overheat and damage temperature-sensitive circuits in your phone. So, after following the above steps, sit back and wait for at least 24 hours. Patience is your friend in this situation.

People get their phones wet and drop them in water all the time. The standard for modern phones is to withstand being submerged in up to 1.5 meters of fresh, clean water for up to 30 minutes without water seeping in. On the surface, that sounds like pretty good protection. But is it worth risking that your phone is not up to the standard? We rely too much on our phones and other mobile devices to take chances. If your phone gets wet or you drop it in water, act quickly and you can probably save it. Knowing what to do if your phone gets wet can help you or others avoid having to replace a phone.

If you still need assistance drying your phone or other mobile device repairs, contact your IT maintenance experts. They have the skills and tools to get your device back to a usable condition, or can help you select a replacement device that is compatible with your current needs. They can even help reload apps, accounts and security software and explain any new phone features.