Time moves at a painfully slow pace if you have been unfortunate enough to watch your phone take a dip in the sink or toilet. You might have jumped into the swimming pool on a scorching hot day and then realised that your phone was still in your pocket. Your phone?s survival chances in cases like these aren?t too great especially if your device isn?t water resistant. At the time like these, people always cling on to a little bit of hope? that maybe, just maybe the waterlogged phone will make it. Next comes a brainstorming session to figure out the best way to dry out the phone.
We?re sure every Tumblr user has seen some variant of the ?put your phone in rice? meme making appearances online, on various blogs, community pages, and social media platforms. But the question remains: can drying your phone in rice actually work? Let?s try to trace back the origins of this strange phone reviving tip and see how deep into the rabbit hole we go.
Drying Phone in Rice ? Myth or Fact?
If you Google ?how to dry a phone? in hopes of saving your waterlogged pricey piece of tech, then you?ll definitely come across the ?drying phone in rice? tip. It appears to be one of those things that get passed down from one generation to the next. Some digging reveals that the idea of letting your phone sit in a burlap sack of rice to save it from water damage has been around before the launch of the first smartphone, as discussion threads online show that worried iPhone users have reported to try out the tip in hopes of saving their phones (with no luck, might we add).
So, a deep dive into a few smartphone users? worrying tales from the past signal that the rice rumours sprung up from a time before smartphones. If you keep back farther and take a step back to encompass a wider range of technology and equipment into the equation, you?ll find the very first traces of the rice rumours.
An article on how to minimise moisture in your safe lists several ways of keeping a safe nice and dry. One of the methods listed is using a bag of dry, uncooked rice as a dehumidifying agent. Rice has also been used by photographers and videographers to keep the equipment safe from condensation in humid or tropical climates or to reverse the effect of condensation on equipment such as the lens etc.
In the cases mentioned above, rice is not reported to be the most effective method of dehumidifying equipment. In 2014, Gazelle put together an experiment to settle once and for all whether drying a phone in rice actually works or not. The experiment involved testing various materials to see which could absorb the most water form a sponge in 24 hours.
The verdict? Well, according to Gazelle?s guide to water damage, out of the seven household items tested (cat litter, couscous, classic rolled oatmeal, instant oatmeal, instant rice, silica gel, and uncooked rice) rice fared worst of all. So we?re calling the ?drying phone in rice? deal an urban myth.
Now that that?s settled, how should you dry out a phone?
Switch it off and set it aside
Several unfortunate users, who have watched their phone succumb to water damage, have tried drying the phone in rice to no avail. Many claims that simply switching off the phone, taking out the battery along with other easily-removable parts, such as the SIM, and letting it air dry is the best bet you have of reviving your waterlogged phone.
Don?t dry out a phone with a hair dryer
Words of wisdom from discussion forums and tech gurus also state that using a hairdryer is a bad idea. The air from a dryer could end up pushing water further into circuits and chips that may fry as a result.
Don?t shake it or move it too much
Avoid moving, shaking or pressing down on buttons if your phone has water in it. It may just escalate the problem.
Don?t put it in the freezer
That?s a terrible idea. It?ll just push your phone past the point of no return.
If your phone shows no signs of turning on, perhaps it?s time to sell your mobile. There are various online mobile recycling sites where you can sell water damaged iPhone. Get some cash in return and rest assured that your phone won?t just end up rusting in a landfill, harming the environment. Choose a sustainable and financially sound option. Here?s a helpful article if you?re wondering how much is your water damaged iPhone 8 worth now.
The bottom line:
As discussed above, evidence indicates that drying phone in rice is just an urban myth that has perpetuated from one generation to the next. Several sources and tests have managed to bust this myth successfully. Now, smartphone users can figure out how to dry out a mobile phone in more effective ways and, of course, if all else fails, you could always just sell your mobile too.
