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Level 1

0 points

iPhone went through the wash

On Thanksgiving, my iPhone went through the wash. I put it in a bowl of rice. What should I do now? How long should I keep it in there? After I take it out, should I charge it or try to turn it on?

iPhone 3GS, iOS 4

Posted on Nov 28, 2010 10:02 AM

29 replies

Tamara

Level 6

13,738 points

Dec 31, 2010 12:19 PM in response to iditelliano

Blow drying it and opening it up are the absolute worst things you can do. My friend tried your method instead of the bag of desiccant and now has a bag of worthless parts.

deggie

Level 10

167,183 points

Dec 31, 2010 8:17 PM in response to Tamara

We are in agreement on the use of a blow dryer, but if a liquid other than water is the culprit, like heavy perspiration, sea water, soda (especially with sugar), then it is going to be necessary to open it and clean with distilled water, then let it dry. If the person doesn't feel comfortable doing this they are going to need to quickly get it to a 3rd party repair site. Or use the Apple out-of-warranty replacement.

Dec 31, 2010 11:55 PM in response to deggie

My iphone also went thru the washer 6 months ago. All is well now. The most important thing is to take out the sim card so no one will phone you, otherwise the electric current will zap the phone.
Open up the phone the best you can and leave it under a desk lamp and check to make sure it isn't too hot. It will probably end up initially having some water stains in the display but will come good. Nurse it back slowly.

Feb 21, 2011 2:26 AM in response to Byrnes

My ipod went through the was years ago, was an iPod nano, i left it for about 6 months, and one day i tried it again, and charged it worked fine.

Either leave it to dry for ages.

Aug 2, 2013 8:14 AM in response to Byrnes

Recently my month old iphone 5 survived the whole washing cycle!!! I could not believe it. It has a slight water damage on the screen, but its going away little by little... What did i do? While freaking out and bawling my eyes out, i took the case of got a bowl filled with rice and put it out under the sun and left it there for 4 to 5 hours. Then put it with the rice in a ziplock bag and left it for a couple of days... i plugged it and it charged and now is working normally... the only difference is the fresh linnen smell🙂

Apr 8, 2014 3:06 PM in response to Byrnes

Washed my husband's I phone and now have it in a jar of rice. Has this worked? It went through the whole wash cycle while we searched for the phone. Very depressed over this and hope the rice idea works. Does anyone know how long to leave it and whether to charge it afterwards? It was fully charged and on when it went into the wash.

Apr 8, 2014 3:10 PM in response to annknowverylittle

Leave it in a full week. Try turning it on before you plug it in to charge. If it doesn't come on, attempt to charge it for a while (maybe several hours) but make sure youdo this while you can keep an eye on it.

The odds of it surviving this are probably pretty slim.

paulcb

Level 6

19,239 points

Apr 8, 2014 3:14 PM in response to annknowverylittle

annknowverylittle wrote:

Washed my husband's I phone and now have it in a jar of rice. Has this worked? It went through the whole wash cycle while we searched for the phone. Very depressed over this and hope the rice idea works. Does anyone know how long to leave it and whether to charge it afterwards? It was fully charged and on when it went into the wash.

Husbands are known to do that when they want a new iPhone. 😉

Apr 8, 2014 3:18 PM in response to paulcb

😁

Zaloarg

Level 1

0 points

May 16, 2014 5:50 AM in response to Ritzybelle

My iphone 5 went through an entire washing cycle and after a day in a zip bag with rice it is working with lot of stains in the screen and the mic is not working. I can only do phone calls with the hands free headset.

May 16, 2014 11:23 AM in response to Byrnes

Left I phone 4 in rice 5 days. The battery expanded some and pressed the case open. So new phone. Hopefully more washing w/o checking pockets. Expensive lesson.

jane253

Level 1

0 points

Jun 15, 2014 4:38 AM in response to annknowverylittle

iphone 4s went through full wash cycle @ 40C. After two weeks it's back to full working order!

I dried off the external moisture as much as possible.

When I first got it out, Siri went mad and wouldn't shut up. The big button was obviously damaged.

It then went into a bag of CAT LITTER (an excellent dessicant) for two weeks

It now works perfectly.

Apparently it's a very bad idea to

a) turn it on straight away when it's wet

b) use any sort of direct heat as this can create steam inside

Hope this helps.

Feb 10, 2016 2:48 AM in response to Byrnes

I jumped into a swiming pool without check my pocket. My wife's 5s iPhone was full washed.

Now it's resting in a bag with rice. I'll let it there for more 4 days (has been passed 3 days now) and I'll try turning it on. Please pray for me.

I'll post here the result.

Oct 28, 2017 4:39 PM in response to deggie

My 6s iPhone was Became wet with syrup two weeks ago and now the microphone is so low, can I wash my phone with water and let it dry?

iPhone went through the wash