What to Actually Do When Your Phone Gets Wet

Published 2026-10-16 · Marion Phone Repair

Your phone fell in the toilet, the sink, a puddle, or the pool. Or you got caught in rain with it in your pocket, or a drink spilled directly on it. Your first instinct might be to put it in rice — the internet has been recommending that for over a decade. But rice does not work, and it can actually make things worse. Here is what actually happens when a phone gets wet and what you should do about it.

Why rice does not work

The idea behind the rice trick is that rice absorbs moisture, so putting a wet phone in a bag of rice will draw water out of the phone. The problems with this:

Rice absorbs moisture from the air extremely slowly. It does not create suction — it passively absorbs humidity in its immediate vicinity. Leaving your phone on a table in a dry room removes moisture at roughly the same rate as burying it in rice
Rice introduces new problems. Rice dust and starch particles can get into the phone's charging port, headphone jack, speaker grilles, and SIM tray. These particles absorb water and form a sticky paste that can corrode contacts and block ports
Rice gives a false sense of action. People put their phone in rice and wait 24 to 48 hours. The phone was going to dry out in that time anyway, with or without rice. The drying happens because of time and air exposure, not because of rice. Meanwhile, the real damage — corrosion from minerals in the water — is progressing unchecked inside the phone

Apple explicitly advises against putting iPhones in rice. Samsung's support pages do not recommend it either. Independent testing by repair professionals and consumer electronics sites has consistently shown that rice performs no better than open air for drying electronics.

What actually damages a wet phone

Pure water itself does relatively little immediate damage to electronics. The real threats are:

Short circuits: Water conducts electricity. If the phone is powered on when water reaches the circuit board, electrical current can flow through unintended paths, damaging components. This is why turning the phone off immediately is critical
Corrosion: Tap water, pool water, ocean water, and other liquids contain minerals, chlorine, salt, and other dissolved substances. When the water evaporates, these substances remain on the circuit board and connectors, where they cause corrosion over hours and days. This corrosion continues even after the phone appears dry
Mineral deposits: Dissolved minerals leave conductive residue on circuit board traces and connector pins. These deposits can cause intermittent electrical problems — random reboots, ghost touches on the screen, microphone or speaker failures — that appear days or weeks after the water exposure

What to do immediately

Step 1: Get it out and power it off

Remove the phone from the water immediately. Every second matters — the longer electronics are submerged, the more water penetrates internal seals and reaches the circuit board. Power the phone off right away. Do not try to check if it still works, do not plug it in to charge, and do not press buttons to test them. If the phone is already off, do not try to turn it on.

Step 2: Remove what you can

Take off the case. Remove the SIM card tray (use the SIM ejector tool or a paperclip to pop it out). If your phone has a removable battery (rare on modern phones), remove it. Removing the SIM tray opens a small gap that helps water drain and air circulate. Shake the phone gently with the charging port and SIM slot facing down to let water drain out by gravity.

Step 3: Dry the exterior

Pat the phone dry with a lint-free cloth or paper towel. Pay attention to ports, speaker grilles, and the SIM tray opening. You can use the corner of a cloth or a toothpick wrapped in cloth to wick moisture from the charging port. Do not insert anything metal into the ports.

Step 4: Promote air drying (not rice)

Place the phone in a warm, dry, well-ventilated area. A spot near (not on) a window with sunlight, or near a gentle heat source like the top of a refrigerator, is ideal. If you have a fan, point it at the phone. The goal is moving air and gentle warmth to accelerate evaporation. A few effective alternatives to rice:

Silica gel packets: The small packets found in shoe boxes, electronics packaging, and bags. These are actual desiccants and absorb moisture far more effectively than rice. Seal the phone in a bag or container with several packets
Open air with a fan: Simply placing the phone in front of a fan in a dry room is more effective than rice. Moving air carries moisture away from the phone continuously
Cat litter (crystal type, not clay): Crystal-type cat litter is made of silica and works as a desiccant. Place the phone on a paper towel over a bed of crystal litter in a sealed container. Do not use clay or clumping litter, which creates dust that will get into the phone

Step 5: Wait before powering on

Leave the phone to dry for at least 24 hours. 48 hours is better, especially if the phone was fully submerged or exposed to saltwater or sugary liquids. The temptation to check if it works will be strong — resist it. Powering on a phone with moisture still inside causes the short circuits and component damage that water alone might not have caused.

What NOT to do

Do not use a hair dryer or heat gun. Excessive heat damages the battery, can melt internal adhesives, and can warp the screen. The battery is especially sensitive — lithium-ion batteries heated above 60 degrees Celsius (140 degrees Fahrenheit) can swell, vent, or in extreme cases catch fire
Do not put it in the oven or microwave. An oven is too hot and a microwave will destroy the phone's electronics (and potentially cause a fire or battery explosion)
Do not charge the phone while it is still wet. Water in the charging port plus electrical current equals corrosion and potential damage to the charging circuit. iPhones will display a liquid-detected warning and refuse to charge if moisture is detected — do not bypass this warning
Do not shake the phone violently. Gentle shaking to drain water from ports is fine. Vigorous shaking can spread water from a localized area to other parts of the phone that were still dry

After drying: what to watch for

Even if the phone powers on and appears to work normally after drying, water damage can cause delayed failures:

Battery problems: Swelling, faster drain than usual, or failure to charge fully. Water damage to battery connections can worsen over time
Speaker or microphone issues: Muffled sound, crackling, or complete failure. Water trapped behind speaker and microphone meshes can corrode the tiny components
Screen anomalies: Dark spots, lines, discoloration, or touch responsiveness issues. These can appear days or weeks after the exposure as moisture trapped under the screen evaporates and redeposits minerals
Charging port problems: Slow charging, intermittent connection, or refusal to charge. Mineral deposits on the charging port contacts are a common long-term effect

If you notice any of these symptoms after water exposure, professional cleaning of the circuit board (using an ultrasonic cleaner with isopropyl alcohol) can remove corrosion and mineral deposits before they cause permanent component failure.

Water damage repair help in Marion

If your phone was exposed to water and is not working properly — or if you want it professionally cleaned to prevent delayed corrosion damage — Marion Phone Repair can open the device, clean the circuit board with an ultrasonic cleaner, replace any damaged components, and get your phone back to working condition.