Use Rice to Dry Out a Wet Phone

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Using a hair dryer on a cellphone can fry the electronic. Instead, try a bow of uncooked rice.

How it works:

  • Quickly remove the battery.
  • Remove the SIM card (if you have a GSM carrier).
  • Do not shake your phone more than you need to in order to remove the moisture.
  • Use a washcloth or paper towel to gently remove the water.
  • Leave the phone in a bowl of uncooked rice overnight. The rice will help to absorb the dampness that remains.
  • Never turn on the phone while it is still wet. It’s possible to short out the phone’s circuitry this way.
  • Don’t lose hope even if the phone/gadget doesn’t immediately jump to life. Plug a charger into the device, then plug the charger into a socket. Keep close watch on the device to make sure it is charging normally. (If it doesn’t, you can also consider purchasing another battery from the manufacturer.)

What Happened:

We dunked an old LG EnV Touch in a vase of water for about five seconds, whipped it out and buried it in a bowl of rice overnight. When we turned it on, the phone sprang back to life. A week later, the device was just as responsive.

Davey Alba