Water may not be as much of a mortal enemy to an Android phone or iPhone as it used to be, but that doesn’t mean they’re great friends. Wet electronics should be dried as soon as possible, and there’s a common household item that people always seem to choose for the job: rice. That’s a bad idea.
The problem is that it’s easy to explain this ancient practice as a logical thing to do. Rice is dry, and it eagerly soaks up liquid — it’s nature’s silica gel packets, right? While there is some truth behind the reasoning, a few nasty side effects can do more harm than good.
A myth from the Web 2.0 era
Why did we start putting phones in rice?
The recommendation to put a wet phone in rice feels like it’s been around forever. I’ve done it before, and I’m sure many people reading this have done it, too. But even the most ubiquitous advice had to start somewhere.
People were definitely doing the rice trick before smartphones, but one of the earliest mainstream mentions that I could find came from a Lifehacker post in June 2007. A reader wrote in to explain that it works because “rice quickly sucks up the surrounding moisture.” That sounds right!
However, an important lesson to learn in life is that sounding true doesn’t automatically make something true. Phones became an integral part of our lives, and with so many people looking to save their pricey gadgets from a watery death, the rice method slid in as the answer.
Rice is not as good at absorbing water as you think
It’s not magic
Let’s get one thing out of the way from the start: rice can’t save a wet phone. Putting your soggy phone in a completely empty bowl would have the same effect. There’s nothing magical about rice.
Rice is obviously capable of absorbing water — we’ve all seen it happen on a stovetop or rice cooker. However, there’s a massive difference between sucking up water while boiling in it and pulling it out of thin air (or a phone). Silica gel is roughly 10 times as effective at absorbing water as rice.
Silica gel is roughly 10 times as effective at absorbing water as rice. It can absorb about 40% of its weight in water before reaching max capacity. So, a 5g packet will pull in around 2g of moisture, and this typically takes 24-48 hours. You’d need to leave your phone in rice for over a week to even begin to reach that level.
Rice is not a uniform material
Don’t make matters worse
Poor water absorption is only half of the problem. Just like a bag of chips or a box of cereal, rice gets shaken and rattled, breaking up the grains and slowly grinding small bits into smaller bits. If you’ve ever gotten to the bottom of a bag of rice, you’ve found the debrit.
That fine rice powder can get into the charging port and the tiny nooks and crannies of your phone. To make matters worse, you put your phone into rice because it was wet. Now that moisture mixes with the rice powder to create a paste that’s much harder to remove. It doesn’t have to enter the inside of the phone to be a pain.
Here’s what actually works
Don’t overcomplicate it
I mentioned that putting a wet phone in an empty bowl would be as effective as rice. The reason for this is the same reason why people think the rice trick works. Powering off the phone and giving it time to dry out is sometimes all it takes. Putting the phone in rice forces people to wait it out, and that’s the real magic.
If you happen to get your phone seriously wet — even if it’s IP68 rated — here’s the best course of action:
- Immediately power the phone off if it wasn’t already on its own.
- Quickly remove as much water as possible. Take off the case, wipe it off with a towel, shake or blow water out of the ports, etc.
- Give it ample time to dry out. Place the phone next to a fan to help it along.
These simple tricks will usually work if the phone is savable. More serious water damage can’t be fixed with towels, time, rice, or silica gel. If you need something to keep yourself from trying to use your phone for a while, try putting it in a paper bag.
