Dropped your phone in water? Do this in the first 10 minutes
What you do before the phone reaches a repair bench matters more than anything we do on it. Follow these steps now; read the explanations later.
Right now — the first 10 minutes
- Get it out of the water and switch it off. If it's already off, leave it off.
- Do not plug it in. Charging a wet phone is the fastest way to turn a survivable dunk into a dead board.
- Take off the case and remove the SIM tray — both trap water.
- Dab it dry with whatever is to hand. Tilt the charging port downwards so water drains out, not in.
- Don't shake it hard, blow into it or press every button "to check" — all of that pushes water deeper.
What NOT to do
The popular home remedies range from useless to actively harmful:
- Rice does nothing useful. It can't reach the moisture inside the phone, and starch dust in the ports makes cleaning harder. The rice myth has killed more phones than it has saved.
- No hairdryers or radiators. Heat drives moisture deeper into connectors and softens the adhesive holding the phone together.
- Don't keep testing it. Every power cycle on a wet board risks a short across components that were fine a minute earlier.
Why "it still works" can be a trap
The dangerous part of water damage isn't the water — it's what it leaves behind. Minerals in tap, sea and pool water corrode the board's tracks slowly, over days and weeks. A phone that seems fine tonight can develop a flickering screen, a dead microphone or charging problems a month later, by which point the corrosion has spread.
This is why acting early matters: a board that's opened, cleaned and dried within a day or two has a far better survival rate than one that "seemed fine" for a fortnight.
What professional treatment actually involves
A proper water-damage service isn't drying — it's decontamination. The phone is opened, the battery disconnected, and the board cleaned (ultrasonically where needed) to remove the mineral residue before it corrodes anything, then inspected component by component.
At TikTech, water-damage inspection starts at £25 and you get an honest verdict: what's recoverable, what it will cost, and whether it's worth it — including whether we can rescue your photos and data even if the phone itself isn't worth saving.
Get a water-damage assessment →"But my phone is waterproof?"
IP ratings are measured on a brand-new phone in clean, still water in a lab. Two years of drops, temperature swings and ageing adhesive later, the real-world seal is weaker than the sticker suggests — and salt water, pool chlorine and soapy water are all harsher than the test conditions. Treat the rating as accident insurance, not an invitation. Note that liquid damage isn't covered by manufacturer warranties, which is exactly why manufacturers fit liquid-contact indicators.
Quick answers
Does putting a wet phone in rice work?
No. Rice can't draw moisture out of the inside of a sealed phone. Switching it off, not charging it, and getting it professionally cleaned quickly is what actually improves the odds.
How much does water damage repair cost?
Inspection starts at £25 at our shops, and you get a firm quote for any repair before we do anything. If the phone isn't worth saving, we'll say so.
My phone was in water weeks ago and now it's acting up — is it too late?
Not necessarily, but don't wait longer. Progressive corrosion is likely the cause, and cleaning can stop it spreading further. Bring it in as soon as you can.
Can you recover photos from a water-dead phone?
Often, yes — data recovery is frequently possible with board-level work even when the phone isn't economical to fix. The sooner we see it, the better the odds.
Broken device in hand?
Get a fixed price in the chat, or walk into any of our three Essex shops — diagnostics are free.