We have developed a new experimental procedure in order to study the role of water content in the acquisition of post-depositional detrital remanent magnetism by a sediment. The procedure leads to the determination of the magnetic direction recorded by a sediment as a function of the water content present when that sediment experiences a change in the direction of an applied magnetic field. Experiments with a variety of sediments indicate that in most cases, regardless of the water content, the sediment does not become remagnetized. Such behavior requires a re-assessment of the importance of the theoretical notion that at high water contents the magnetic carriers remain mobile within fluid-filled voids and hence are able to realign along a new applied field. Analysis of the magnetic properties of sediment samples initially stirred in zero and non-zero magnetic fields leads to the conclusion that the magnetization of the sediments may arise from small-scale, shear-induced liquefaction.