Skip to content So you were in the toilet and you accidentally dumped your smartphone in the bowl or sink, a clumsy waitress poured a drink over it, or you went for a swim and you forgot that your smartphone is sitting inside your pocket; whatever the reason may be, it all comes down to one point – your smartphone is wet. If this happens for an instance, almost all people that you know will tell you one thing: put it in rice. And yes, uncooked rice in a ziplock/airtight container will do well but is it really that effective?
What does rice have to do with this?
Scientifically, rice is a drying agent that can soak water out of substances. There are a lot of things revolving around uncooked rice being able to succeed or fail in drying out a wet smartphone and majority of what we saw are negatives. A lot said that rice does not successfully soak out water; that it is the least effective drying agent compared to silica gel, instant oatmeal, and desiccants.
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So in conclusion, yes it does work but not on worst case scenarios because there are negatives along the way like mushy rice getting stuck in the I/O ports, rice can go inside the holes of your phone, etc. To be safe, wrap it first in a paper towel before dumping it in.
The things you need to do before you dry it out
- If you are aware that your phone is drowning in H2O, then quickly remove it from the source as quickly as possible without second thoughts.
- DO NOT TURN IT OFF. If you do not own an iPhone it is possible to remove the battery, sim card, micro SD card off of your phone so you must in no way turn it off. However, if you own a smartphone which do not let you easily remove the battery, gently turn it off with maximum precaution.
- Dry it in the most careful way possible. Do not ever attempt to put it in the oven because heat can damage the insides of the phone. Blow dry with precaution; make sure that air dries it out – not heat. Another option is to gently wipe it with paper towels with the thought that water must not get inside any ports or holes in your smartphone.
- After doing these three steps, it is time to dry it out. You can either use:
- Rice – cheap, but not very effective in most cases
- Desiccant – considered to be one of the most effective; hard to find