Depending on your search term, google will show you websites that claim rice as a desiccant or claim that as a myth.
Here is an example for rice is truly a desiccant :
“ Results: All desiccants and the white rice were effective in removing moisture from hearing aids, with Hal Hen Super Dri Aid showing the largest mean reduction in relative humidity. Based on analysis of covariance results, white rice was statistically similar to several of the commercial desiccants.”
Here is an example of the opposite :
. “The results also clearly demonstrate that both evaporation in a room and a closed container of rice did very little to dry the device in 48 hours.”
I am looking for some reputed myth busting like Mythbusters or Snopes answers and not for personal anecdotes. So what gives ?
In order for the moisture to get into the rice, it first has to evaporate from your wet phone. so you have moisture evaporating into air, then maybe getting absorbed by a nearby grain of rice.
It seems blindingly obvious to me that if that grain of rice wasn’t there, and instead, there was an air current to carry away the moisture, that would, at the absolute minimum, be just as good, and in reality, almost certainly better.
Edit: I realise this isn’t what you were looking for, but I really think the truth of this matter can simply be inferred from the known behaviours of fluids
If this line of reasoning were correct, then you could replace “rice” with “silica gel” and similarly claim that silica gel is not a dessicant. But it is widely used as such in commercial applications. I think this needs to be tested empirically.
I don’t know if this study is correct or not, but be wary of studies funded by a company that will profit from the results of the study.
The rice needs to start dry. Bake it in a very low heat oven to drive off moisture. Then, put it with the device to be dried into a sealed container. The idea is to have the device in as dry an environment as possible with something to absorb moisture from what little air remains in the container.
I’m assuming if you purchased silica gel loosely in bulk and stored it in an open bag in the pantry, its dessicant properties would similarly degrade to nothing after a period of time - dessicant can only hold so much moisture until it is at equilibrium with the surrounding environment.
I don’t understand the assertion that the water needs to evaporate into the air and then get sucked out of the air by the rice. Dump a cup of rice into a pint of water. The rice slurps up the water that it touches, no air involved. It’s porous and if there’s water in its environment, in contact with it, the rice will drink it up. It works in salt shakers to keep the salt from clumping in humid climates.
Sure, if it was some surface droplets, you’d just wipe them off. However, for something like an electrical device, it’s difficult to reach every wet nook and cranny by contact. The dry rice or other desiccant speeds the evaporation by keeping the air dry.
I don’t think there’s any assertion that water needs to evaporate in the air first, but if your phone is dripping wet, its probably best to just wipe it off first with a towel, rather than throwing it directly into a bin of rice and waiting for the individual grains to soak up the moisture via direct contact.
I still think that something like a desk fan blowing regular (air conditioned) room air on the device is going to be significantly more effective at removing moisture than any static “rice in a box” setup.
If this line of reasoning were correct, then you could replace “rice” with “silica gel” and similarly claim that silica gel is not a dessicant. But it is widely used as such in commercial applications. I think this needs to be tested empirically.
No, because silica gel isn’t typically used to try to dry things out, but rather, to capture and entrap stray moisture inside a sealed box or package, rather than allowing it to recondense on other things inside - it’s not a relevant comparison to rice and wet phones - totally different situation and application.
There are other studies too supporting the same claim on the Internet. For example, here is one from Fastcompany :
“ The drying agents used were as follows: Cat litter, couscous, rolled oatmeal, instant oatmeal, instant rice, silica gel (in the form of crystal cat litter), and uncooked rice. Each material was tested to see which could absorb most water from a household sponge.
Rice came dead last. “Dry, uncooked conventional rice was the worst of the seven options we tested. It absorbed the least water in 24 hours,” say the testers.” {Bolding Mine}
Just to point out that ‘study’ was conducted by a company which exists to sell their own ‘Magic Phone Drying-Out System’, the results were published in a journal that exists to enable companies to publish their own press releases, and it also includes tips on how best to dry your phone, which, surprisingly, recommends using a particular ‘Magic Phone Drying-Out System’.
In other words, it’s an ad. Not saying the results aren’t valid, and not saying their system doesn’t work - but it’s an ad.
Air movement certainly helps. But so do heat and very dry air.
I’m not here to say that rice is the superior desiccant in any particular case. However, it’s something that a lot of households have on hand and it can help speed things up and restore functionality.
So are paper towels, oatmeal, cotton and a myraid of other products. Do we know for sure that rice is a better desiccant, than a paper towel, for example ? (Pound for pound)
I understand where you are coming from and I am not necessarily disagreeing with you. I have seen most urban legends / myth have some true component to it but a lot gets added on over time. Is this a similar case ?
Probably depends on your air humidity… Rice in a sealed container limits the amount of moisture in the air to a finite amount so you don’t really have to think about it.
I’ve read that cat litter is more absorbent. Hitting the phone with a hair dryer for a little while first might help dry things out too I reckon. Then put it in your absorbing material for a couple days and cross your fingers. You’ll need to wait for it to dry out fully no matter what you do, so probably couldn’t hurt.
People who repair devices for a living suggest taking your phone apart and scrubbing the board down with rubbing alcohol… but if you don’t already have the tools on hand would the wait be too long? Plus the process of taking your phone apart could easily kill it anyway.
There are actually three questions here: Is rice a dessiccant, is it a very good dessiccant, and is it a good way to dry out wet devices. The answers seem to be yes, no, and no, respectively.