What should you do and what should you not do if you accidentally washed your phone in the washing machine?

There may well be a phone in the pocket of a jacket or trousers that was hastily thrown into the washing machine.

There is no need to panic and immediately take the device to a service center. You can try to dry and restore it yourself.

Read the article about what to do if you washed your phone (touchscreen, smartphone, iPhone) in the washing machine.

First aid rules

As practice shows, some models of smartphones and push-button phones do not lose their functionality after washing. To increase the likelihood of successful recovery, take the following actions:

1. Turn off the device, remove the SIM card and battery.
2. Remove all parts that can be twisted and wash them under running water to remove any remaining powder.
3. Treat the inside of the device with alcohol. It is applied to a gauze swab, which is used to carefully wipe each part.

   The alcohol evaporates quickly and also neutralizes the invisible soap film that may remain on the device after washing.

4. To remove visible scale, you can use a toothbrush to remove all corrosion, but you should not rub the microcircuits too vigorously.
5. Lay out the disassembled phone parts on a dry, flat surface in a room with good ventilation.
6. To quickly expel water from the device, it is blown with a hairdryer. The air should be cool or slightly warm. The hot flow can cause parts to melt.
7. Wait a week for all elements to dry completely.
8. Assemble the device, turn it on, evaluate the result.

The chances of a full recovery are slim, but they still exist. With the right approach, only some parts may need repairs, so it won't cost much.

The most important condition for competent first aid for a washed phone is its complete drying. You should not try to turn it on earlier than 5-7 days after the incident.

How to dry it so it works?

There are several ways to dry your phone that help quickly and effectively get rid of moisture trapped inside the parts. These include:

1. Rice. It is poured into any suitable container of sufficient depth and all parts are completely buried in it.
2. Silica gel. These transparent balls can be found in boxes with new shoes. It can be purchased separately by ordering online. The cost of a package weighing 0.2 kg is about 170 rubles.

   You can contact a company that produces plastic windows. They use it as filler for frames.

3. Cat litter. It acts as a powerful adsorbent, absorbing moisture. The device is also buried in it for a day.

The device must be kept in any of the adsorbents for at least 3 days so that the dry substance fully absorbs moisture. Only after this you can try to turn it on.

Sometimes water stains remain on the smartphone screen. They will be visible when turned on.

The second option for getting rid of stains is to warm up the screen from the inside. Download any game onto the device and turn it on for several hours. The battery gets very hot when the application is running, causing the stains to disappear.

Waterproof models of touchscreen smartphones and iPhones

Manufacturers of modern smartphones equip them with additional protection against moisture. However, you should not rely on it being able to withstand machine washing.

Therefore, all iPhone owners should be extremely careful when checking their pockets.

The moisture protection works, but not for too long. In this case, we are talking about clean water, and washing in a machine is aggravated by the effect of detergents on the device. The more aggressive they are, the higher the risk of damaging an expensive device.

In addition to the influence of detergents, the device will spin intensively in the drum of the washing machine, hitting the walls of the centrifuge.

All iPhones, starting with model 7, received protection from moisture.. Information about this is indicated in the characteristics of a particular model and looks like “IP67”, where IP is protection against penetration, 6 – against dust, 7 – against water, but at a depth of up to 1 m. In this case, the phone must be turned off.

After washing, the iPhone, like other phone models, needs to be revived. Its insides can be easily opened by unscrewing 2 bolts located on the bottom edge of the device.

It is impossible to guarantee that it will work without interruption.Although the chances of recovery for waterproof iPhones are higher than for models without a similar function.

Contact a specialist

You need to contact the service center if, after drying, the phone does not turn on or does not work properly. The technician is informed about what happened to the device and what measures were taken to restore it.

Specialists have professional tools, which safely and effectively clean oxidized boards.

There is no need to delay contacting the service center. The longer the device is exposed to chemicals, the higher the likelihood of destruction:

• connectors,
• sensors,
• contacts.

If any element is permanently damaged, it must be replaced. The price depends on the complexity of the work performed. The average cost of repairing a push-button telephone is from 300 to 500 rubles. Smartphones with the Android system can be restored for 1000 – 5000 rubles.

In the workshop, you need to discuss all the issues in advance. Before the specialist begins the repair, he must inform the owner of its cost. Sometimes it is cheaper to buy a new phone than to restore a washed one.

Helpful information

To avoid causing even more damage to your phone after washing it, The following information should be taken into account:

• You can’t place your smartphone on the battery;
• to speed up the drying process, you can place it nearby, at a distance of 20-30 cm from the heating device - this way hot air currents will not harm it;
• All parts should be wiped with a cotton pad with a smooth surface or gauze;
• It is not recommended to use cloth - lint remaining on the surface can impair the performance of the device;
• the sooner the device is removed from the soapy water, the better;
• if the loss was discovered during the washing cycle, you need to press pause and select the “drain without spin” function - the program will be rebuilt, the water will drain and the machine can be opened;
• For complete drying, you need to not only completely disassemble the device, but also remove all films, protective glass, and stickers from it;
• You only need to wipe your smartphone with a gauze swab;
• It is not recommended to use paper napkins, as they can clog connectors and microcircuits.

Experts say that the lower the water temperature during washing, the higher the chances of recovery. If it was 60 degrees or more, then the device will be restored with a 10% probability.

You will find maximum useful information about washing clothes and various fabric products Here.

Conclusion

After washing, you can try to restore any phone yourself. The main recommendation is to thoroughly dry the device. Bulk substances that absorb moisture, as well as dry warm air, come to the rescue.

If after all the steps the phone does not work, you need to take it to a service center and find out the cause of the breakdown and the cost of repair work.