5 Things NOT to Do When Your Phone Gets Wet (From a Developer Who Learned the Hard Way)

I build web tools for a living. Last month I learned an expensive lesson about phone water damage. Here are 5 mistakes to avoid.

1. Don't Put It in Rice

This is the biggest myth in tech. Rice absorbs ambient humidity in the air around it. It does NOT draw water out of a sealed phone enclosure. A study found rice performed no better than open air for drying phones. Worse, rice starch can clog your charging port and speaker grille.

2. Don't Use a Hair Dryer

Heat can warp internal components and push water deeper into the device. The adhesives holding your phone together start to soften around 70°C, which a hair dryer easily exceeds.

3. Don't Shake It Vigorously

Shaking can spread water to areas it hadn't reached yet. A gentle tilt with the port facing down is fine, but aggressive shaking makes things worse.

4. Don't Charge It While Wet

This is the most dangerous one. Water + electricity = short circuit. Wait until your phone is completely dry before plugging it in. Most modern phones will warn you, but don't risk it.

5. Don't Wait and Hope for the Best

The longer water sits in your speaker grille, the harder it is to remove. Surface tension bonds strengthen over time, and corrosion can start within hours.

What TO Do Instead

For the speaker: Use acoustic water ejection. A free tool at fixspeaker.com plays a frequency sweep that physically vibrates water out of the speaker grille — same principle as Apple Watch Water Lock.

For the phone overall:

1. Power it off immediately
2. Remove the case
3. Gently pat dry with a lint-free cloth
4. Use fixspeaker.com for the speaker (max volume, speaker down)
5. Leave it in a dry, ventilated area for 24-48 hours
6. Don't charge until fully dry

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Learn from my mistakes. That iPhone repair bill was not fun.