If your phone, tablet or speaker just got wet, what you do in the next few minutes matters more than any tool afterward.
Immediate steps
- Don't plug it in. Avoid charging or connecting headphones until you're confident the ports are dry -- many phones will also warn you about this automatically.
- Wipe off surface water with a soft, absorbent cloth.
- Gently shake or tap the device with the speaker facing down to help larger droplets fall out.
- Let it sit speaker-side down on a dry cloth for a few minutes before trying any sound-based method.
Skip the rice
Burying a wet device in a bowl of rice is a long-standing home remedy, but it's not recommended by device manufacturers and isn't reliably effective -- rice dust can get into ports and speakers, adding a new problem. A cloth, time, and (if available) a low-humidity environment work better than rice.
Using a water eject tone
Once surface water is wiped away, our Water Eject tool plays a low, pulsing tone designed to vibrate remaining moisture out of the speaker mesh:
- Lay the device speaker-side down on a dry cloth.
- Set a comfortable, moderate volume.
- Run the tool's full cycle.
- Wipe the speaker again and check the sound with Speaker Test.
- Repeat once or twice more if needed, with a few minutes of drying time between attempts.
What an IP rating does and doesn't mean
Many modern phones carry an IP rating (like IP68) describing resistance to dust and water under specific lab conditions -- but this describes resistance to damage, not that water can never get in anywhere, including the speaker mesh. A rated phone can still end up with a temporarily muffled speaker after a splash, even with no lasting damage.
When to stop and seek help
If the device was submerged for an extended time, exposed to salt water, a pool, or any liquid other than fresh water, or if sound doesn't improve at all after a few attempts, further drying alone likely won't help -- have it inspected by the manufacturer or a repair professional rather than continuing to try sound-based fixes.