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Forget about accidentally dropping your phone in the water for a few seconds, what if you decided to clean it by sending it through the washing machine? Well that wasn't exactly what I was trying to do with my own phone. My phone was in my pants pocket that I decided too wash. So unfortunately my phone got cleaned to, but by reacting quickly I was able to save it.
My phone was beyond wet, it was soaked couldn't have been any wetter then it was. I tend to not panic and to react to a stressful situation quickly to get things done. So how exactly did I get my phone to stay alive after taking a swim in the washing machine? You need to react quickly, and immediately detach the battery. Obviously electricity and water do not mix well together. Once you have taken the power source our of the phone, you want to start the initial drying. Use a paper towel or even a regular towel, pretty much anything that can absorb water and wipe your phone down. After the drying is over your initial instinct will be to check if your precise phone still works by putting the battery back in and turning it on praying for the best. But resist this instinct because it may be a a week until you know if your phone will work or not if you don't want to risk damaging it any further. Your phone may look dry at this point, but it isn't. The inside of the phone still has water in it, even if its only a small amount it can still cause damage to your phone if it messes with electricity.
The next step could take awhile, it depends on how patient you are. Next we want to dry the interior of the phone, where you couldn't reach with your initial paper towel drying. Yes to dry the inside we are going to use a slow process called evaporation, which thanks to mother nature is free. Some may think about using a hair drier to speed up the evaporation process but I would not recommend it, excess heat could be just as harm full to your phone as the water was. So with the battery still removed allow both the battery and the phone to sit for 3-5 days to fully dry. One way to try and speed this up and is to place your phone on your computers monitor which gives a a little heat but not to much. But this depends on your computers monitor so do this at your own discretion.
The longer you wait the more of a chance you have of your phone working fine. After you wait 3-5 days place the battery back in and your phone should hopefully work. For me I still could see some moisture in the outer screen but after 5 days I got anxious and couldn't wait any longer. My phone worked but had moister in the outer screen for a couple of months, but this eventually went away. If you have moisture in your screen after a few days of drying I would recommend waiting a little longer.
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