How to get moisture out of your phone without using rice
Remove your phone from the water immediately to make it easy to get moisture out of your phone. The longer your phone stays in the water, the more damage it causes. Therefore, take it out of the water immediately.
Turn OFF the phone. Do not attempt to open or use anything on your phone—simply switch it off immediately to get moisture out of your phone. Generally, switching the phone off ensures that there is no electricity running that could cause the phone to develop faults since water is a powerful conductor.
Remove the Pouch, Battery, and SIM Card. If a pouch protects your phone, remove it immediately. Also, take out the SIM card and battery (if it is removable) to get moisture out of your phone. Just remove anything removable because anything connected to your phone is susceptible to water damage and can also trap water inside the phone.
Use a Lint-Free Towel to dry it to get moisture out of your phone. Drying it is part of the steps to get water out of your phone. So if you have a DSLR or wear glasses, chances are you keep a lint-free towel on hand. However, if you don’t have one, you can always use a paper towel or dry washcloth.
Remove as much water as possible. By the time you’re finished, both the front and back of the phone should be fully dry. Next, ensure that you put the cloth into every hole in the phone, like the headphone jack, charging port, and SIM slot to get moisture out of your phone. Don’t rush it, do it gently because the more water you can get rid of, the better the chances of your phone working again.
Additional water should be sucked out using a vacuum to get moisture out of your phone. If you have a wet/dry vacuum cleaner, such as a Shop-Vac, you can use it to extract additional water from the phone. Other vacuum cleaners may work; however, ensure that the vacuum you use will not develop faults if it gets wet.
Air or Sun the Phone to get moisture out of your phone. Leave your phone in front of a standing fan and allow the air concentrate on the phone, leave the phone in a well-ventilated area to dry out, or leave the phone under direct sunlight so the heat dries the water.
If you’ve ever hopped into a pool with your phone in your pocket or perhaps dropped it into the toilet (I hope not), you may have heard to immerse your phone in a bowl of rice to get moisture out of your phone.
Here’s what to do if your phone is suffering from water damage:
- Surround it with silica gel.
Once you’ve gotten as much water out as possible, place it in a bowl of silica gel/crystal cat litter, using at least four cups and keeping it in a container that’s at least 1-2 quarts (a large mixing bowl, for example).
- Wait 2-3 days before turning your phone back on to get moisture out of your phone.
This may be the most challenging step, but remember: Good things come to those who wait! Letting your phone sit and dry out long enough will often be the trick to get moisture out of your phone.
