Soaked in Zomboid? Quick Drying Hacks to Stay Alive

Wet clothes lose insulation, making you get cold much faster. In cool or winter conditions, a drenched survivor can quickly drop to dangerous body temperatures. Hypothermia can set in and start chipping away at your health.

Being wet, especially Soaking or Drenched, gives your character a chance to catch a cold. This causes sneezing/coughing fits that attract zombies from a distance. In multiplayer, a cold can even spread to teammates.

Prolonged wetness can make your character unhappy or stressed. In Build 42, wearing certain wet or heavy clothes can trigger minor depression. An unhappy survivor has reduced effectiveness (slower XP gain, etc.). For more ways to manage your character's mood, check out our depression and boredom guide.

Cold, wet survivors get tired faster. If you're soaked and cold, your endurance plummets. Wet clothing also weighs more, nudging you closer to encumbered status and further reducing stamina recovery.

The sneeze/cough noise from a cold will break your sneak mode and attract zombies. There are ways to mitigate this, but the best cure is prevention: stay dry to avoid getting sick in the first place.

💡 Pro Tip: Your body heat helps dry clothes you're wearing, but if you're also sweating, that can replace the lost water (net zero progress)!

In MP, you can't fast-forward through the drying process. Plan ahead by having active drying methods available. Have one player stand guard (in dry clothes) while others swap out of wet gear.

Share towels with your team. A stack of clean bath towels in your safehouse is valuable. Coordinate laundry if someone is running a generator – take turns using the dryer (just be mindful of noise).

A big MP risk of being wet is catching and transmitting a cold. Colds are contagious in PZ. Consider having sick players wear medical masks (it actually reduces transmission in-game) and quarantine them if possible.

In PvP or roleplay scenarios, remember that shivering or sneezing gives away your position. A loud sneeze could betray a hiding spot, and wet clothes can affect combat performance (aim, stamina). Stay dry for tactical advantage.

Allows manual wringing of clothes and towels. Effectiveness is based on your character's Strength – stronger characters can squeeze garments almost completely dry. Compatible with Build 41 and works in multiplayer.

Turns decorative clotheslines into usable drying racks. You can craft clothesline poles and indoor drying racks. Drying is faster outdoors (-5% wetness/10 min) than inside (-2%/10 min). Compatible with Build 41 & 42.

Streamlines the usage of washers and dryers with one-click options to "Load All Clothes" and automatically re-equip them when done. Saves tedious inventory management, especially valuable in multiplayer.

Makes rain more realistic and dangerous, increasing soaking rate and tying wetness closely to temperature. Forces you to take rain seriously – pairs well with drying mods to cope with tougher conditions.

An umbrella is a lifesaver in rainy weather. Equip it in your off-hand. It massively slows down how quickly you get wet – you might only get slightly damp in heavy rain. Keep one in your backpack for emergencies.

Look for Raincoats, Ponchos, and Parkas. These have high water resistance, keeping you dry much longer. Firefighter gear and leather jackets also provide some resistance. Use rainproof gear strategically to avoid overheating in warm weather. For more information about finding and maintaining protective gear, check our gloves guide and tailoring guide.

Don't forget your feet. Having dry feet can matter because wet feet on cold ground can lead to faster colds. Keep spare socks in your inventory – wet socks are particularly uncomfortable.

When creating your character, consider the Outdoorsman trait (2 points). It makes you "not bothered by harsh weather," drastically reducing the chance of catching a cold from being wet. Won't stop hypothermia though!

Do wet towels dry out on their own?

Yes. If you use a towel to dry off, it becomes a "Wet Towel". Just hang onto it – over time it will turn back into a dry towel. You can speed this up by wringing it (with the mod or Build 42 feature) or by drying it near a heat source. In older versions it took a very long time, but current builds are more reasonable.

Can I dry clothes in an oven or microwave?

It's not recommended! While the game allows you to place clothing in an oven, turning it on will likely just start a fire and destroy the clothes. There was a running joke about using ovens to dry clothes, but people have tried and often ended up with a house fire. Stick to intended methods (campfire = okay, oven = nope).

How long does it take clothes to air-dry inside?

It depends on how wet and the temperature. Roughly, a fully soaked outfit could take several hours (3-8 in-game hours perhaps) to dry indoors at room temp. Outside on a hot sunny day, maybe a couple of hours. If you're only damp, you can be dry in 30 minutes or less.

Does windchill affect drying?

Windchill (added in Build 41) is mainly about how cold you feel, not explicitly how fast things dry. However, indirectly, wind can cut both ways: a warm wind helps dry, a cold wind makes you even colder and could keep clothes wet longer by keeping them cold.

Can I catch a cold from being wet even in summer?

Technically yes, if you're drenched and in a cold enough environment (like a chilly night even in summer, or being wet in high windchill). But it's less likely. In summer, the bigger problem from wet clothes is actually overheating – wearing a soaked coat in summer can make you hot and then when it evaporates, you cool rapidly.

Does being wet make me more noticeable to zombies?

There's no evidence that zombies can detect you being wet. The primary concern is noise from sneezing if you become sick. Visually, zombies don't react to wet vs dry – they react to line of sight, sound, and smell (blood smell, etc.).

Scenario 1 – Sudden Downpour (Single-player)

Problem: You're on a loot run and a thunderstorm hits. You're soaked and starting to get chilly.

Scenario 2 – Persistent Rain (Multiplayer)

Problem: On a multiplayer server, it's been raining for a week straight in-game. Everyone is perpetually damp. Morale is low.

Scenario 3 – Washed but Now What (Post-laundry)

Problem: You managed to wash a big pile of bloody clothing in a washing machine. Now they're clean but sopping wet, and the power just went out.