iPhone in water: don't put it in rice. Do this instead

The most widespread good idea about wet phones is also the worst one: put it in a bag of rice. It does not work, and Apple advises against it directly, because grains of rice and rice dust can get into the phone and make the damage worse.

Here is what to do instead.

The first ten minutes

1. Take it out of the water and turn it off. The single most important step. Current running through wet circuits is what destroys them, not the water itself.
2. Do not charge it. Not with a cable, not wirelessly.
3. Wipe the outside with a soft cloth.
4. Turn the charging port downwards and tap the phone gently against your palm so most of the water runs out.
5. Leave it somewhere dry with air around it, at room temperature. Not on a radiator, not with a hair dryer. Heat damages both the screen adhesive and the battery.
6. Wait. At least five hours, preferably longer, before you even try to turn it on.

Why rice does not work

Rice draws moisture out of the air in a closed container. What it does not do is draw water out of the inside of a sealed phone, where the water is already sitting on the circuit board. Meanwhile the hours go by, and the hours are what matter.

The problem with water damage is rarely the water. It is corrosion: the water leaves salts and minerals behind, which start eating at solder joints and connectors. That process starts immediately and does not stop by itself, not even once the phone feels dry.

That is why a phone can seem completely fine for a week and then stop charging, lose its microphone or die. The damage was there all along.

What “water resistant” actually covers

Newer iPhones are rated to withstand water, but there are two things worth knowing. The rating is measured on brand-new phones in clean water under controlled conditions, and the seal gets weaker with age and after any repair where the phone has been opened. Sea water, pool water, soap and soft drinks are also harder on the electronics than clean water.

Apple’s own warranty does not cover liquid damage. Most Danish home contents insurance policies (indboforsikring) do, so it is worth checking.

What we do with a wet phone

Proper treatment is not drying the phone. It needs to be opened, the battery disconnected, and the affected parts cleaned of the salt deposits the water left behind, before the corrosion spreads further.

So the rule still applies: the sooner, the better. A phone we see the same day, we can usually save. One that has sat in rice for three days is a much worse starting point.

Water damage cleaning costs the same whichever iPhone you have, because it is labour and not a part. You see the price in our price calculator.

If it turns out a part needs replacing afterwards, for example the charging port or the battery, you see the price for it before we go any further.

We want to be honest about one thing: water damage is the only type of repair where we cannot promise a result in advance. We can clean and replace what has corroded, but if the water has already destroyed the board itself, the phone cannot be saved. We find that out when we open it, and you hear from us before we go any further.