Nearly everyone has encountered the unthinkable: Your smartphone landed in the toilet. Or you forgot to take off your smartwatch before jumping into the pool. Or maybe you meant to take those earbuds out of your pocket before running the laundry.

What now?

Internet forums are chock-full of advice to dry out that drenched device, but problematic myths about liquid protection and repair make it hard for consumers to separate fact from fiction.

I’m a researcher who studies how technologies play a part in people’s everyday practices and experiences.

My new book, License to Spill: Where Dry Devices Meet Liquid Lives , explores the wet-dry boundary in how people perceive and treat their electronic devices.

Here are five common myths about getting devices wet.

Myth 1: My device turned bac

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