iPod Put Through Washing Machine, Plays On

Nicole Martinelli ()

<a href=Nothing like a heartwarming story of triumph despite abuse: Wired.com scribe Charlie Sorrel chucked his 2G iPod Nano into the washing machine along with his fuggy gym clothes and socks. Oops!

Waterlogged and not responding to the touch of its frantic owner, instead of going for CPR Sorrel opted to follow reader advice and let the drenched device dry out.

A few days later? Well, it’s now responding to its owner, despite the fact he was all thumbs when it came to taking care of it.

My own negligence once led to waiting anxiously while a two-person rescue team pulled my second-gen device from under Milan’s metro tracks (where it fell as I was running to catch a train) — one reset and it kept on ticking for a few years, as if the fall had never happened.

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About the author

nicole_martinelli

Nicole Martinelli is a San Francisco native who has lived in Milan and Florence, Italy. She's written for Wired.com, The New York Times and Newsweek. You can find her on Twitter , Facebook and Google+.

If you're doing something new/cool that's Apple related, email her about it.

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Posted in iPod |

  • Shane

    Luckily, I haven’t washed my iPod or iPhone, but my USB thumb drive has survived three accidental washes.

  • Tanja

    My Nano (3rd gen) went through the wash as well. It works but the display backlight does not. So, it sits in my MINI Cooper as the iPod. Perfect since the MINI display is used and not the iPod (Nano).

  • Lucy

    same thing happened to my ipod 3G. Twice, and also through the dryer. Still,after 5 years, working perfectly.

  • Patric Jernberg

    My 6 years old son got a brand new iPod for Christmas (2008), on the 26th it was gone. We looked everywhere in the house, in the car, at granmas house etc. A had had it engraved with his name and out phone number so we were really surprised it didn’t surface. In April it was recovered. It had been forgotten in the side pocket of a pair of favourite trousers, that had been in the washer two or three times a month. Still working of cours.

  • Gavin

    Great…… a sniff of water and my Macbook Pro is dead!!!!!

  • http://www.venera7.com Javier Canadillas

    Mine accidentally got the same treatment. Unluckily, everything works but the battery :-(

  • TinTin

    I can go one ‘better’: I washed my iPhone 3G, with colours no less, and it still works great nine months later.

  • ItsGene

    I searched and searched for my tiny, almost microscopic Apple Bluetooth Headset, only to discover it in the bottom of the washing machine — it must have been in my shirt pocket. Resigned to the loss, I set it aside and went on with my life.
    A few days later I picked it up and said, “eh, why not?” I plugged it in to charge and was astonished to discover that it’s still working just fine.

  • Andrew

    My Son managed to send his ~2-3 week old shuffle through, and so far it is working fine. Put it in a hearing aide dryer for a few hours and charged it up! Rock Rock On!

  • Church of Apple

    Did this to my Apple remote 3 years ago. Still works. =D
    That story about the iPhone is awesome…

  • Helena

    I dropped my video ipod into the ocean on holiday and after I’d dried it out in the sun for a couple of hours it turned back on again, that was a few years back now and its still going strong!

  • Doogie

    Haha ive washed my 2nd gen ipod 7 TIMES IN A YR and still works like new!!!
    D