What should you do if you washed your iPhone in the washing machine?

In today's world, where it's hard to find a spare minute, many people neglect to check their pockets before doing laundry. This is why it's not uncommon for money, documents, and other items to end up in the drum along with their clothes. While water can be fatal to some, it's not harmful to others. But what should you do if you washed an iPhone in the washing machine? Electronic devices, as we all know, aren't designed for such treatments.

The principle of saving an iPhone

If you think about it, the chances of a washed phone surviving are slim. Think about it, water itself is harmful to electronics, not to mention that during washing it is usually hot and contains many chemical elements due to the powders and gels dissolved in it. Such a blow to microchips and chips could be truly fatal. But that's just theory, and in practice, 50 out of 100 washed iPhones survived, so the chances are pretty good.

Remove the phone from the drum and immediately unplug it. Ignore the fact that it's working: a short circuit could occur at any moment, and then there's absolutely nothing you can do. Next, disassemble the phone. Don't worry about whether you can put it back together yet, but simply remove as many removable components as possible (open the case, remove the SIM cards and battery, etc.).

Never attempt to dry a phone without disassembling it; it won't produce any results and will only waste precious time. Remember the golden rule: first unscrew, then dry it piece by piece.

Warning! In any case, success is not guaranteed, even if you do everything correctly. But the more meticulously and quickly you follow the instructions, the higher your chances of survival and avoiding any unpleasant consequences.

Instructions for disassembly and drying

First of all, it's worth warning you that unscrewing the screws on your smartphone's case won't be easy, and you won't be able to do it without a special screwdriver. iPhone manufacturers have recently switched to five-point screws, so you'll need to buy a special tool from a specialist store. It's called a Pentalobe 0.8 mm. If you don't have anything like that on hand, you can try a nail file, a repurposed screwdriver, or a scalpel, but success is a matter of luck.

The next step is to unscrew the two screws on the end of the phone. Now we can separate the plastic case from the metal one. To do this, you'll need a suction cup with a mount; any kind will do, even a construction one, as long as it's functional. Grasp the part of the screen closest to the HOME button with the suction cup and pull it up or toward you.

1. Be careful not to break the cable connecting the screen to the camera. Use the suction cup carefully, without any sudden movements. To be on the safe side, you can hold the top of the screen with your hand.
2. Next, remove the battery, if applicable. If not, there's no need. Remove the SIM card tray.
3. Take a large bowl and fill it to the brim with dry rice. Place your phone inside, making sure it fits completely and has some space left over.

Now you need to submerge the iPhone in rice so that the grains reach the deepest corners affected by water. As is well known, rice absorbs water well and promotes drying. At first glance, the phone will appear completely dry after just half a day, but this is a false impression. To ensure the device dries thoroughly and reliably, you will have to wait a whole day, or even 36 hours.

Never dry your phone with a hairdryer. There's a high risk of damaging the fusible wires with the hot air.

Now all that's left to do is remove the phone from the rice, dust it off, and reassemble it to its original condition. Don't rush to restart your iPhone; first, make sure you've mounted it correctly. There's no guarantee you'll be able to restore your phone without any problems, but the repair process at a service center is essentially the same, only it costs at least 5,000 rubles.

   

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