Tried that phone-in-a-bag trick during a hotel inspection in Tulsa

I work as a quality auditor for a mid-range chain and last Tuesday I had to check a room that reeked of smoke. Usually I just note it and move on but this time I remembered a tip from a cleaning forum about sealing a phone in a plastic bag with baking soda to absorb odors. So I stuck my work flip phone in a Ziploc with a spoonful of the stuff and left it overnight. Next morning I opened it and the phone was dead, totally fried. Turns out the baking soda got inside the charging port and shorted it out. The manager had to lend me his old Android to finish my shift. I guess the real lesson is don't mix cleaning hacks with electronics unless you want to explain a $60 replacement to your boss. Has anyone else ruined a device trying something dumb like that?

2 comments

2 Comments

clark.faith10d ago

Saw a guy try to dry his earbuds in a bag of rice and they came out smelling like a rice cake but still busted. Guess we both learned the hard way that some hacks are better left as just tips, not actual experiments.

quinnbailey10d ago

Did the baking soda actually get into the port because the bag wasn't sealed tight enough, or did you pour it straight in without thinking? I'm wondering if a coffee filter or something thin between the phone and the powder would have saved it, or if the whole idea is just doomed from the start. Seems like a lot of these "tips" skip over the part where you gotta keep the phone completely separated from whatever you're putting it in, not just floating around loose.