Project Zomboid: How to Clean Up Your Safehouse

To some, Project Zomboid is nothing more than a vehicle for stabbing and shooting hordes of undead. For others, it's a 'getting eaten by zombies' simulator. The game may have been in early access since 2013, but with each new update providing new features to enjoy, it's safe to say there's a little something for everyone in the not-so-sleepy Knox Country.

I, for one, like to hunker down and build a properly impressive safe house. Yes, I know, staying on the move is more sensible. Yes, the helicopter always makes sure my safe house (and hopes / dreams) are torn to pieces after a few in-game weeks. Still, there's something deeply satisfying about cleaning up a building or even neighborhood to make it a place to survive - and thrive.

Blood stains

Whack 'em, stab 'em, shoot 'em dead, it doesn't matter - zombies are full of blood and just can't wait to share every last drop with you. There's no gameplay consequences to living in a base that's covered in blood, but if you want to clean it up then you'll need to find some bleach and any one of the following:

• Broom
• Mop
• Bath towel
• Dish towel

Right-click a bloody area, select 'Clean up blood', and you'll see a green square appear in areas that can be cleaned. To clean walls, you'll need to target the space on the floor closest to them. Bleach isn't unlimited, though, so keep an eye on its 'encumbrance' stat for an idea of how much is left by hovering over it in your inventory.

Blood will eventually fade over time, but this is the only way to get rid of it quickly and permanently - until another zombie decides that it's the perfect place to bleed, obviously.

Broken windows & glass

You might think leaving these intact would be good for base defense (piles of broken glass do create a distinctive sound when a zombie or fellow player is standing on them), but climbing through broken windows is basically guaranteed to make you bleed while it has no effect on zombies. Besides, is a safe house really safe if you can't run around it in your socks without ending up with glass in your feet and having even more blood to clean up!? I think not! 

When dealing with broken windows, there's two things to consider - the window itself, and the shards on the ground. Both can be dealt with by right-clicking and using the 'Remove Broken Glass' / 'Pick up Broken Glass' options, with the latter only available if you have an item equipped. Experienced players know that many things can go wrong at the drop of a hat in Project Zomboid, so clearing out windows for a quick escape is always sensible.

If you do end up with glass lodged in your feet or hands, use tweezers to pull the shards out (and don't forget to bandage up the wound!)

Replacing broken windows

Barricading windows with wooden planks and / or sheets of metal is a great way to keep the zombies out, but you can also restore them to their original glassy glory by following the steps below.

1. Find a crowbar
2. Get your carpentry skill to at least level 2 (skill books can help speed this up!)
3. Enable build mode to 'pick up' a non-broken window (more details in the 'Miscellaneous Rubbish' section)
4. Return to the window you want to fix, 'place' it, and there you go! Another window for the zombies to break!

There's a decent chance the window will break when you try to pick it up, with the risk gradually reducing as you level up in carpentry. Consider visiting a neighboring town (or any place that you're OK with ruining) to steal its windows, but note they can be very heavy, so travel light!

Corpses

Firstly, I'd like to remind everyone that we're talking about Project Zomboid here. If you have a corpse to dispose of outside of the game, I can't help ya. Virtual corpse disposal is a different story, however, so let's lay out the facts.

1. Corpses are heavy.
2. They decompose over time, and will eventually disappear on their own. Eventually.
3. If your character is around 20+ corpses, they'll start getting sick and can die surprisingly quickly.

To dispose of these unsightly cadavers, you've got a few options. Just remember to check their loot first, as some zombies have useful items in their pockets.

Option one is to quite literally dispose of them in a dumpster or similar trash-holding container. These are unique in the sense that the game provides a 'delete all' button when you look inside these containers, making any that are large enough to hold a corpse a perfectly viable disposal method.

The second option involves campfires, which are arguably faster if a bit more complicated. They can and will burn just about everything - trees, buildings, players, zombies, and of course, corpses. Look out for them in backyards and camping areas, or make one yourself with the following steps:

1. Press 'B' to open the crafting menu, then open the Survivalist tab
2. Craft a 'campfire kit'
   • Two recipes exist, each with slightly different 'core components'. They are functionally identical.
   • One uses 2 logs, and the other uses 3 wooden planks.
   • Both also need a source of kindling (books, twigs, rags, etc)
3. Right-click on the ground and choose to 'build fire' - for best results, pick a fireproof area like a road.
4. Pick up all of the corpses you want to burn, then drop them on top of the campfire.
5. Add some kindling materials (e.g the zombies' clothes) to the campfire to give it fuel, then finally...
6. Right-click the campfire while holding matches / a lighter (plus one other piece of kindling) to light it.

If the corpses were close enough to the fire, they'll turn into ashes a few seconds later (and can be cleared away with a shovel, trowel or broom after reclaiming the campfire materials). The Zomboid wiki warns against adding extra corpses to a fire that's already lit, and my horribly burnt character can confirm that it's not a great idea.

The third and final option that I know of is perfect for roleplay, especially when disposing of a friend or previous character's corpses, and involves digging a grave. You'll need a shovel (and it should be noted that graves will never disappear), but each one can hold five corpses. You can also build cairns and wooden crosses nearby to pay your respects.

Miscellaneous Rubbish

The zombie apocalypse is no excuse to get lazy! Now's the time to deal with the really unsightly stuff - old newspapers, half-eaten food, and any other unusable junk that fell out of the litterbugs' pockets when they were getting gobbled up. To get rid of this kind of junk, you'll need to use the game's building system; it's accessed by clicking on the dresser above the magnifying glass on the left side of your screen.

Look for the 'pick up' option, hover over the mess you want to see disappear, then left-click it to pick it up. These trash piles can be deceptively heavy, so try to limit your inventory to the absolute essentials and remember where the nearest bin is for quick drop-offs and deletions.

Decorating

All work and no safehouse decoration makes for pretty a dull game. As I mentioned in the beginning, though, Project Zomboid has a little something for everyone - and a nice, clean safehouse is the perfect place to start displaying all the cool things you've found. If your carpentry and metalworking skills are high enough, pretty much anything you see in the game can be moved into your safehouse - and items can be put on display, too, if you right-click them in your inventory and 'place' them.

If these tips were useful and / or you've put some effort into cleaning up and decorating your safehouse, I'd love to see it - tag me on Bluesky @westydesign.bsky.social!