One of the worst things that can happen to your smartphone is if it comes into contact with a large volume of water. Your screen might go haywire, your SIM card might be damaged and – horror of horrors – your phone might just die and your warranty will not cover the repairs because you got it wet in the first place.
Mishaps happen all the time, we get it. Which is why we at Computer Guys put together this handy guide for the next time your phone decides to take a dunk in the swimming pool or the toilet bowl.
1) Take it out. Now.
The lesser time your phone spends in the water, the better the chances of survival. So if you ever drop your phone into the toilet, it is best to just reach in and fish the phone out. You will have time to worry about other things later. Also, it might be good to take out the SIM card as well if you can to prevent it from getting damaged. However, if you do not have a lot of data stored on your SIM card then it is fine to skip this step, as drying your phone is more urgent.
2) Don’t shake.
The first instinct is to shake the phone to get all that water off. Never do that, as all that movement might cause the water inside your phone to seep even further into other components! Instead, put your phone on a flat surface and try not to move it unless it is absolutely necessary.
3) Turn it off.
Water and electricity do not mix well. So turn your phone off to avoid a short circuit.
4) Wipe it dry.
Again, remember not to move your phone around too much when doing this. Take a towel and dry your phone as much as you can, and wipe the battery as well if it can be removed.
5) If the phone came into contact with saltwater or carbonated drinks, rinse it.
Liquids such as seawater or coke will leave behind residual substances after evaporation. To prevent that from happening, give the phone a bath in alcohol or distilled water. Use the latter to get rid of saltwater only. Also, if you use alcohol, make sure that it has to be denatured alcohol or at least 95% alcohol, so please do not dunk your phone in your whiskey!
6) Get the insides dry.
Place the phone in an airtight container filled with uncooked white rice, or silica gel. Leave it in there for at least a night, but we recommend that you leave it there for a day to make sure that every last bit of moisture is soaked up. If you are the careless type, or have family members who are prone to these sort of things, you might want to invest in commercial drying products such as a thirsty bag or a dry-all wet emergency kit.
Some of you might want to dry your phone with a hair dryer, but this might end up damaging your phone more as extreme temperatures are bad for the components inside.
So there you have it, hopefully these remedies will get your phone up and running again!
