It happens to everyone, you drop a cell phone in the toilet, your MP3 player gets dropped in a puddle of water or your digital camera gets submerged in a pouring rain.  No matter how your electronics get wet, there are steps you can take immediately to try and salvage it before having to replace it.  If you are covered under warranty for what is called accidental damage, you can simply call or bring it in to have it replaced or repaired.  However, if you opted out of protection like that, you can try and dry the devices out before replacing them.

Immediately when you realize your unit has become wet, you want to get it away from the water as soon as possible.  Shake the device gently to get any excess water out of the device and set it on a towel.  Use the towel and wrap it around the device and press down gently.  This will seep out some of the water on the surface.  Use Q-Tips to wipe around buttons, digits and other protruding parts of the device.  After that, use a hair dryer about ten inches away from the device to dry it out.  Then, let it sit for a day and see if it works after that.  In some cases, you may have to let it sit for longer than a day to see if it works depending on the amount of water that it was submerged in.

Not all electronics can be saved from being wet depending on how wet they get.  If you have a device completely submerged in water, chances are it is fried from the start.  However, if a device is barely wet or you manage to get it out of the water before it sets in, you may be able to dry it out.  If you do not have protection on your device, what harm is there in trying to dry it out?  If you have to replace it anyway, why not try to save it before you do?  You may be able to save some money or salvage what is on the device before it is too late.