Your Nothing Ear (3) went through the washing machine, took a swim in the pool, or got caught in a downpour. The clock is now ticking. Wet electronics have a much better chance of survival if you dry them within the first hour, and that window closes fast as corrosion starts forming on the internal circuit boards.
The golden rule: do NOT plug them in, and do NOT put them back in the charging case. Power applied to wet circuitry causes immediate shorts and can turn a fixable situation into a dead pair of earbuds in seconds. Get them out of the water, leave them out of the case, and start drying immediately.
For honest expectation-setting: Nothing Ear (3) have some water resistance but aren't built for full submersion or a spin cycle. Survival is possible, especially if you act fast, but nothing here is guaranteed. Give the buds their best shot.
Don't Power Anything On
The single most important step. Don't plug the case into USB-C or put it on a Qi charger. Don't open the lid near your phone that triggers pairing attempts and pulls power from the case battery. Don't try to play music. Power flowing through wet circuits is what kills electronics, not the water itself. Stop all electrical activity for the next 24 hours.
If the buds were inside the case when it got wet, take them out right now. The case will try to trickle‑charge them while it has any battery left, and that's the worst thing that can happen.
Shake Out Visible Water
Hold each Nothing Ear (3) by the stem with the earbud tip pointing down and gently shake to clear water from the speaker mesh and the microphone openings near the stem. Don't shake violently you can dislodge internal components. Just enough to see water droplets fall. Do the same with the case: hold it upside down with the lid open and gently shake to clear the wells where the buds sit.
For the case, the USB‑C port is the worst water trap. Tilt the case so the USB‑C opening points down and let gravity drain it. A few sharp downward flicks help. Same goes for the tiny hole near the case button that's the reset button area, and water can sit there.
Dry With a Soft Cloth
Wipe each bud and the case exterior with a dry, lint‑free microfiber cloth. Pay extra attention to the speaker mesh, the microphone openings on the stem, the charging contacts on the bottom of each stem, and the matching pins inside the case wells. Don't rub aggressively just blot and absorb.
If you see visible water around the case hinges, the lid seam, or the button, work the cloth gently into those crevices. Avoid pushing fabric fibers into the openings. The ear tips can be removed for better drying just pull them off gently, dry the mesh underneath, and let the tips air‑dry separately.
Air Dry for 24 to 48 Hours
Place the buds and the open‑lid case on a soft, dry surface in a well‑ventilated room. A window sill with a breeze works well. Don't use direct heat (hair dryer, oven, radiator) heat warps the seals and damages the battery. Don't use rice that's a myth. Rice doesn't absorb moisture from inside electronics any better than ambient air, and it leaves starch dust in the speaker mesh.
If you have silica gel packets (the ones that come with new shoes or supplements), put them in a sealed container with the buds and case for the 48‑hour drying period. That works much better than rice. The lid should stay open during drying so moisture can escape.
Inspect the Charging Contacts
After 48 hours, look at the gold‑plated contacts on each bud stem and the pogo pins inside the case wells. Corrosion shows up as green‑tinged or whitish residue. If you see any, gently brush it off with a dry, soft toothbrush. For mild spots, a cotton swab very lightly dampened with isopropyl alcohol (90% or higher) can help but only after the buds are completely dry.
If the contacts look clean and shiny, you're ready to test. Slip the ear tips back on if you removed them.
Test in Stages
Plug the case into power using the USB‑C cable, but watch closely. If the case LED turns on normally (solid white or red), it's surviving. If you see flickering, smell anything unusual, or feel heat from the case, unplug immediately. With the case charging cleanly for about 10 minutes, place one bud at a time in the case start with whichever bud got less wet if you can tell.
After another 10 minutes, open the case near your phone. Open the Nothing X app the buds should appear and show battery percentages. If both buds show up with a charge, they're alive. Test audio with a quick song. Test the microphone with a voice memo or a call to a friend. Check that touch controls still work (single press to play/pause, double‑press for next track, triple‑press for previous).
Even if the buds work now, keep an eye on battery life, connection stability, and audio quality over the next month. Any of those could indicate residual damage. Nothing's standard warranty doesn't cover liquid, so you're on your own if something goes wrong later.
