Last week I left my Motorola PEBL in the pocket of my pants and laundered it in the washing machine. I took the battery out and left the whole thing out to dry for a few days, and when I turned it on this morning, everything actually worked, including the camera. I’m not sure what to say about that, other than “Go Motorola!” It kind of makes me want to launder phones from competing brands and see how they hold up.
I’m wondering if it survived because we use HE (low sudsing) soap. I also suspect that the battery door came off early in the cycle and that the phone powered off. I don’t think it would have survived had the power stayed on for long.
It’s interesting to note that this Yahoo Answers entry suggests that all is lost. This ArsTechnica thread reports mixed results. I’m going to look for any signs of degradation over the next few weeks, that’s for sure.