How to Dry a Wet Cellphone or iPod

April 13th, 2008 | by Rob |

WHY? If your cellphone gets wet, you actually have a chance to save it — if you do it right.

Patricia's MobileHopefully you have never had to deal with this problem before. However many have. Just yesterday I was in a Disney park and one of the kids in a stroller spilled a bottle of water. Mom was upset because her bag was there and was concerned her mobile phone would be ruined.

Some of us live in regions that get a lot of rain. Some of us just forget and plunge right into the pool.

So how do you dry it off to try and salvage the phone? I’ve read a few tips online and so I’m going to consolidate some of what I’m seeing here.

Pre-Dry

  1. Obviously the sooner you can get the phone out of the water the better.
  2. Some say if the phone is wet with salt or chlorine water, to wash it in pure water first (clears out the salt and chlorine).
  3. Turn it off and remove the battery if possible.

Dry

  1. Pour out as much water as possible and pat it dry with a towel.
  2. If you are outside, place the phone open to expose as much of it to the air as possible. Let warm air dry it.
  3. If you are home, submerge the phone in uncooked rice! Yes, this will help absorb the moisture.
  4. You may need to give it a day or two.
  5. Do not use a hair dryer as it will blow moisture into smaller areas that may not dry out.

Hope for the Best

The truth of the matter is that your phone, iPod, or any electronic dropped in water could be a goner. But hopefully this will give you a fighting chance to recover it!

Some of my sources for this (since I’ve never had to dry an electronic) include Freidbeef’s Tech, the Washington Post, and Digital Inspiration.

Have you ever gotten your cellphone, iPod, Blackberry, whatever wet?  What happened? Did you salvage it?

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  1. 5 Comments to “How to Dry a Wet Cellphone or iPod”

  2. By Jerry on Apr 13, 2008 | Reply

    I once found a Motorola Razr sitting in the street in the morning after a night of rain. It was soaked. I took it home, took it apart as much as possible and let it sit for three days. After re-assembling it, to my amazement, it worked. We used the phone’s contact list to find the owner of the phone.

  3. By matt on Jan 10, 2009 | Reply

    i have an ipod touch and i was stupid and cleaned the screean with windex and got windex inside now i have to wait for it to dry

  4. By damo on Feb 18, 2009 | Reply

    i jumped in the pool with my ipod in my pocket the screen keeps coming on and going off and it dont work if you touvh it any suggestions

  5. By pamela on Mar 7, 2009 | Reply

    stick it in a bag of rice for a few days or even kitty litter it will absorb the water. or always use those silica packets thats what they are for anyways

  6. By jen2j on Jul 3, 2009 | Reply

    I rescued my Sony Ericsson w350 in 2 days with the exception of the external speaker, which isn’t a huge deal. That may resolve with patience as well.
    Don’t try to blow-dry, don’t stick it in the oven or microwave, and certainly not the dryer like I’ve heard other people trying. Flush it out with clean water if it’s got foreign material in it. Definitely remove the battery/sim card, let it drain, and cover it in dry rice or kitty litter as quickly as possible, whichever you have available and can use right away. Be patient and hope for the best, there’s no guarantee. Also: accept responsibility for it and don’t expect the manufacturer to feel sorry for you. It’s common sense. If you damage it in any way, espec. liquid, it’s NOT covered.

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