Hygiene, blood and washing in Project Zomboid

Build 42 tracks three separate states on your body and clothing: blood, dirt and wetness. Each needs its own fix. A dryer will not remove blood, and washing will not dry you.

Blood builds up mostly from melee combat. Every hit on a zombie can splash the body parts and clothing nearest the strike, and your own bleeding wounds stain the garment over them. Dirt builds up from everyday activity such as fighting, crawling through windows, foraging, farming and handling corpses. Both show visually on your character model and on each item's tooltip.

Blood is tracked per body part, so a jacket can be bloody on the sleeves and clean on the back. Clothing absorbs most of the mess before it reaches skin, which is one more reason to wear full clothing layers.

The sandbox option Clothing Degradation controls part of this. Set to Disabled, clothing stops getting dirty and bloody through that path. See sandbox settings.

The effects are smaller than many players expect, and some popular claims are not real mechanics.

• Wound infection. The confirmed effect. Dirty or bloody clothing over a scratch or laceration raises the chance of an ordinary wound infection. This is a bacterial infection treated with disinfectant, not the zombie Knox infection. See first aid.
• Unhappiness. Sources disagree. One guide says blood causes minor unhappiness for characters without phobias (one source), while long-term players report no noticeable mood change from living in filth. Treat it as small at most. Check the mood page for what reliably moves happiness.
• The Bad Smell moodle. In Build 42 the smell moodle is Noxious Smell, with tiers starting at Bad Smell. It comes from rotting corpse piles and foul air, not from your own body. Washing does not clear it; moving away from the corpses and burning or burying them does. See moodles.
• Zombie attraction. No source confirms that a dirty or bloody character draws zombies or hides from them. Blood on the floor has no gameplay effect beyond looks.
• Hemophobic stress. Only characters with this trait get a strong, reliable penalty from blood on their body.

Right-click a water source and choose to wash yourself. Sinks, bathtubs, showers, rain collectors, wells, rivers and lakes all work. You do not need soap to wash your body; soap only speeds the job. Washing takes time, so lock the door or clear the area first.

Washing clears blood and grime from skin. It does not treat wounds, so a bath never replaces cleaning a cut with disinfectant and a clean bandage.

Water cost. The amount scales with how dirty and bloody you are. Older guides cite a 3-unit minimum at the source (older Build 41 guides). Build 42 measures water in liters through its fluid system, and an exact per-wash figure for 42.22 could not be confirmed. Running taps and natural water cost nothing until the water shutoff; after that, a river or a rain collector is the cheapest option. Never wash with water you need for drinking. See water.

Rain. Standing in rain makes you and your clothes wet. No source confirms that rain washes blood off a character, so do not rely on it.

By hand. Right-click the water source or the item and choose to wash one item or all clothing. Washing single pieces saves water when supply is short. Soap or cleaning liquid is optional. Without it, washing takes about five times longer (one source), and soap is used up when clearing blood stains. Bleach is for cleaning blood off floors and walls with a mop, sponge or towel, not for laundry.

Washing machines are 20-slot containers. They need both power and a water supply; the Turn On option stays hidden until both are present. A plumbed rain collector counts as the water supply, and a generator counts as power. Machine washing cleans but leaves clothes wet.

Dryers need power only. Combo washer-dryers need power and water in washer mode and power only in dryer mode. Moving any of these takes Electrical 3 and they are very heavy. See electrical.

Wet clothes. A hand wash leaves the item fully wet. Wet clothing loses insulation, and wetness combined with cold can give you a cold. Hang the clothes in a container or wear them indoors near heat until dry. In winter, never put freshly washed clothes on before going out.

Hemophobic (Fear of Blood) is a negative trait that gives you points at character creation; one source lists it at 5 points (one source). It cannot be taken with Desensitized.

• Stress rises while your character is bloody.
• You panic when giving first aid to yourself.
• You cannot give first aid to other players.

Players report the stress and panic stop soon after they change bloody clothes and wash their body, then return the next time they get splashed. Blood on floor tiles carries no penalty. See traits and occupations.

Opinion Hemophobic is a poor pick for a melee build, because every fight splashes blood. If you take it, keep a spare clean outfit at base and plan a wash after every outing.

Opinion Clean clothes matter mostly when you are hurt. A light routine keeps infection risk down without wasting water.

1. After a fight, check the clothing over any wound. Swap bloody layers before you bandage.
2. Wash your body at a sink or river when you get back to base.
3. Collect dirty clothes in one crate and wash them in a batch every few days.
4. Dry them indoors or in a dryer before wearing them outside.
5. Save soap for blood stains and bleach for floors.

More habits that help are on the tips page.