Uncooked rice: The new hero of teens with ipods and cell phones.
Word is at the local high school that if your cell phone or ipod has gone through the wash you can save it by burying it in uncooked rice. My 15 year old son has told me numerous stories of rice to rescue--and since he's ended up with two phones and an MP3 player death by washing machine; I was interested. I guess it might make sense, maybe the rice absorbs the moisture? Anyone else heard this?
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15 Comments:
Yep...even works for adults :P
Although I think cat litter might be even better at wicking away moisture...
lawofmurphy at 5:47PM on 10/08/09
Yes, absolutely.
My wife and I were on a canoe about a month ago and her Samsung Instinct went under when we flipped. (whoops!)
We grabbed it, rushed home and buried it in a bowl of rice, couple hours later it was dry and in use again.
My phone didn't survive though.
P.S. My dad works for AT&T selling phones, when I told him the story he said thats what they tell their customers to do if the Iphone ever gets wet.
AyeEat at 5:50PM on 10/08/09
Yeah, a girlfriend of mine recommended this when her sorority sister drunkenly peed her bed (and subsequently ruined her phone). My father's also used this trick after accidentally sending his phone through the washer. Takes a day or so.
ec_washington at 5:51PM on 10/08/09
If you drown an electric appliance, sometimes they spring back to life if you let them dry out long enough before you turn them back on. The key is that they need to be really dry, or you risk shorting something because of the water.
We had a washer and dryer in out old house that survived several floods in the basement. Let 'em dry, and they work fine. I know more than one person who has spilled a beverage on a laptop and had it survive.
If the wetness is sticky or corrosive, that's another story. And it also depends on the item in question. And how well-sealed certain components are. Because some things simply won't survive a dunking.
The rice trick would probably help to draw out moisture, but disassembling the item as much as possible and having a fan blow on it would also be useful. Anything that helps it dry out...and then give it enough time.
dbcurrie at 5:53PM on 10/08/09
It works! My husband pushed a friend in the pool, said friend had an iPod and 2 cell phones in his pockets. Hubby didn't get the items into the rice until the next day, but it worked and all three items came back to life, thank goodness, or that was going to be an expensive prank.
erinlovestoeat at 5:54PM on 10/08/09
I dropped my phone in the toilet once. I didn't use rice to dry it out. Just took out the battery, and let it air dry. After a day or so when I thought it was safe, I turned it on and it works perfectly fine.
jo_wang at 12:37AM on 10/09/09
I don't know about rice absorbing water from electronic devices. Considering you have to boil rice when cooking it in order for it to absorb water I have my doubts about this little tip. I suspect the amount of time the ipod or cell sat unused was all that was needed. @ec_washington I just wanted to remind everyone that signatures linking to your blogs are a no-no here.
tapioca at 5:03AM on 10/09/09
Nice! But DOH!!!!! I wish I had known this before my daughter surrendered her drowned cell back to the provider.
Filed away for future reference...
therealchiffonade at 8:24AM on 10/09/09
We keep a bottle of drierite dessicant on hand. We have rejuvenated iPods and phones with it. You can get it at amazon. It is typically used in laboratories for drying out various kinds of materials.
Knitter at 9:42AM on 10/09/09
I heard this on NPR the other day. But when asked if a phone could be rescued by rice if it falls into hot oil....it couldn't. : )
arm1970 at 10:55AM on 10/09/09
@tapioca I see your logic. But here's a thought. Why do people soak brown rice for hours before cooking it if it can't absorb any water at room temperature? In traditional preparations for Japanese and sushi rice, the rice is soaked for at least an hour between washings. Supposedly this helps the rice cook evenly.
I have also seen some restaurants add a few grains of rice to salt shakers to keep the salt from clumping.
To throw out another suggestion: supposedly, salt also works as a pretty good dessicant. (hence, the clumping problem in salt shakers) If you do that, though, I wouldnt recommend dumping your phone in salt, just in case the salt granules end up sticking.
engmcmuffin at 11:02AM on 10/09/09
hm.
if you put rice in your salt shaker it prevents clumping apparently???
heres some crap i uncovered:
http://www.wikihow.com/Save-a-Wet-Cell-Phone
http://hacknmod.com/hack/diy-save-a-wet-cell-phone-using-rice/
http://www.techeblog.com/index.php/tech-gadget/video-fix-a-wet-cell-phone-using-rice
...looks like it works!?
I dont own a fancy gadget like that anymore.
it complicated my life too much and I care about the bees :)
hungrychristel at 1:30PM on 10/09/09
Just a random thought, if rice could absorb moisture like that, think of all of the clumped rice we'd have sitting around our houses.
The rice you put in your salt shakers, for those not using dishes of kosher, it's to break up the clumps of salt that form because of the humidity in the air. You'd actually do just as well using unpopped popcorn, or dried beans in your salt shakers.
As far as drying out a phone or other electronic device, if you have a gas oven, put it in with just the pilot on, it will generate enough heat to dry it out, or maybe a proof setting on a newer electric oven.
ExChefInMA
ExChefInMA at 2:47PM on 10/09/09
@ExChefInMA - awesome info thanks!
hungrychristel at 3:23PM on 10/09/09
What if I pee on my sister's cellphone, and then drop it in the toilet, what would dry it out better, putting it in rice, or heating it in the oven?
What if I cook the iPod and the rice together in a fuzzy-logic rice cooker. Does that have settings for MP3 players or cell phones? Can I eat the rice afterwards?
salpico at 12:00AM on 10/10/09