AirPods Pro 2 case was washed; should I take further steps?

First off, do no waste your time using something like rice. This is an Internet myth, and tend to cause more issues than resolve them.

The short answer is that yes, the case can still work normally after something like this, but there is still a real chance of hidden damage. Even if it’s charging fine now, moisture and detergent residue can stay inside the case and slowly cause corrosion on the charging contacts or internal circuitry. That kind of damage doesn’t always show up immediately, so the risk is more about problems developing days or weeks later rather than right away.

At this point, the best thing you can do is let the case air-dry completely for at least 48 hours in a warm, dry place — not in rice, but somewhere with good airflow. If you have silica gel packs, those are much better than rice. Avoid charging the case during this time if possible. If it continues to work normally after a few days and there’s no odd behavior (intermittent charging, overheating, or battery drain), you’re probably fine — but there’s no way to guarantee long-term reliability after a wash cycle.

If you start noticing inconsistent charging, heat, or battery issues, replacement of the case is honestly the safest long-term solution. The AirPods themselves are much more water-resistant than the case, so replacing only the case is usually enough.

Rudegar wrote:

not fully a myth

Using rice is a universally a bad idea - and in Apple's documentation and associated advice, is to be avoided.

The main issues with using rice as a desiccant, particularly for water-damaged electronics, are

• its inefficiency
• the potential for contamination by dust and starch (leading to mould and bacterial growth)
• and the fact that it may slow the drying process, leading to corrosion

If using a desiccant to dry electronics, you are best advised to use silica gel granules - that are enclosed within a vapour-permeable sachet. The silica gel and the item being dried should be placed in a sealed container - and this in a warm location to promote evaporation.

Electronic devices should be powered off during the drying process - which make take many days.

I think it may also depend upon the inherent humidity level of where you live. If you live in a very humid environment then putting something into a bag with rice might work better than just leaving it in the humid air. On the other hand, I doubt rice will strip all humidity out of the air and putting a wet item in a bag will just leave it sitting in an non-ventilated environment with semi-humid air. Sure, some of the humidity will be removed, but it's still a semi-humid situation. Maybe if you live in a place with 90% humidity then rice might help dry something if it reduces the humidity in the bag to 50%. You still have a humid environment though. If your air is at 20% humidity level the way it is right now where I live, I wouldn't put anything into a bag of rice. I'd put it on a table and direct a fan on it.

My big concern about the charger is residual chemicals from soap in the washer. Drying the water will just leave those on the terminals. Those might slowly cause corrosion of the connectors in the charger.

not fully a myth

I fell in a lake and revived my ipod touch 3g and a sony erricson x1 but putting them in a bowl covered with uncooked rice on a radiator for 48hours

same with an iphone 4 that had spilled wine into the pin30 connector that discoulered the lower left part of the screen and made it go into headset mode, after the 48hours with same cure there was just a brownish peasize discolouring.

the sony erricson have since passed but I still have the ipod touch, and my mum inrerited the iphone4 until she switch to my dads old iphone6 later on.

Rudegar wrote:

not fully a myth

Myth or not, using something like rice is a bad practice, and unfortunately it is promoted over the Internet as a solution to having an Apple (or any manufacturer's) device that was exposed to liquid. As such, I'm sorry, but I have to disagree with you on this. Of, course, this is only my opinion, and is based on personal experience over the years.

As evidence, I would like to present two iFixit articles, that you can search for on the Internet. They are:

• Rice is for Dinner, Not Repair
• Ask iFixit: I Spilled Liquid on My Laptop—Now What?

I live in denmark, the first time it was in the dead of winter

the waterI was in was fresh water.

I've been working in the electronics industry since 1999 so I don't really see myself as one who follows pseudoscience cures as a rule.