Posted in HackCollege by @gvoakes

So you dropped your phone in the toilet? First, don’t feel bad — you’re in good company. 19% of people drop their phone down the toilet. But as soon as you hear the telltale splash of phone in toilet, fast action will save your phone.

Here’s how to do it:

Step One: No matter what type of phone, the first step is to snatch it out of the toilet fast. You can wash your hands later. Whatever you do – don’t try to turn your phone on if it’s powered down! Next, give all surfaces a good wipe with a paper towel.

Step Two: If you have an iPhone, then don’t take out the battery – it’s a pain and will end your warranty. Instead, put your iPhone into a bag of uncooked rice and set it in a warm place like by a window. Wait at least 24 hours before taking your phone out and turning it on. If there’s still no life – don’t give up, some iPhone users report their phone taking up to a few days to rid itself of all the moisture and be ready for use again.

If you have any other type of phone such as a Windows phone or Android, follow steps 1-2, but before dropping your phone into absorbent rice, take out the battery and remove any caps, lids, cases, and more that you can and toss all the pieces into the rice.

Still not working?

Step three: Get your cellphone provider to replace the phone for free. Water damage is typically an end-of-warranty situation – but if your phone is dried out completely there’s only one way to know water was the ultimate killer – a small bit of white material which turns red when water makes contact. For an Apple phone, this is inside the headphone jack. For other phones, it’s typically in a corner behind battery. Either way, just make a look alike from white paper and stick it on top of the tattling red spot– and with luck, no one will be the wiser and you’ll have a brand new phone.