How to Save a Wet iPhone

As a victim of a wet iPhone, I know how devastating it can be to see your beloved device dead. Once your iPhone has touched water, you feel you are faced with the three options. First, take it to the Apple store and hope they don’t notice when you pretend you don’t know what’s wrong. Second, pay the unsubsidized price for a new iPhone. Third, and most painful, give up the whole idea of having an iPhone and having to replace it with another device until your contract ends. I personally had to do the third option. That was until I learned how you and I can both save our wet iPhone from total destruction.

Dry…But Nothing More

Before we go into specifics of how to dry your iPhone, we must mention two important points that seem to get forgotten. You should not do anything that will turn on the iPhone. Chances are, your iPhone is already on when it gets drenched. So, what should you do then? Most of the time, the iPhone automatically goes on standby, when this happens you shouldn’t do anything else. When we activate the phone’s screen, we essentially are performing an electronic action. This means that if it’s soaked in water, any additional contact with electricity will cause damage. This can be in the form of dead pixels to a system shut down. What ever you do, try not to activate the screen.

Three Options that Work

When you face this situation, you are given three practical options. I will list the in order of practicality. The first option, and the least practical, is the hairdryer. This may seem practical at first, but have you ever wondered why we should never keep our iPhone in direct sunlight? This is because our phones are technically frying when in contact with direct heat. This means you are in an opposite situation you are currently in. If you must use a dryer, put it on low.

The second option is to use Silica packets. This isn’t the most practical because these things are hard to find. The Silica packets come in clothes, shoes, and more, but many of us ignore these things. If you have them lying around, you need a large bag of them, then put your iPhone in the middle to allow the packets to absorb the moisture.

The last, and most practical option is the age-old rice trick. This works the exact same way as Silica packets, except most (normal) people have more rice than Silica packets. Just prepare a large bowl of rice and let it soak for a full day. This works like a charm and I’ve heard tons of testimonials to the power of rice in this issue.

Conclusion

Whenever you find yourself in the situation that countless iPhone users have, remember to not panic. Just remember that your best option is rice. Fill a bowl with rice and let your iPhone set in it for about one to two days. It is also important to remember to always be patient when it’s drying, rushing the process will prove worse than not. While many people come out of this situation with a working iPhone, most situations aren’t perfect.