Cleanliness

Overview

Cleanliness in inZOI affects both Zoi mood and household relationships. Dirty furniture, floors, and rugs accumulate grime over time, causing visual dirt and gameplay penalties. The Hygiene need depletes faster when the home is dirty, and wearing dirty clothing makes the Zoi Uncomfortable. Keeping the home clean requires manual effort, the right tools, or hired help.

Effects of Low Cleanliness

Home Information Screen

The Home Information Screen displays the property's overall cleanliness meter and a count of dirty Zois in the household. Access it through the household management interface. The cleanliness meter provides a quick overview of how dirty the home is without needing to visually inspect every room.

Visual Indicators

Dirty furniture, floors, and rugs develop a marbled, dusty appearance. The grime is visible and gets progressively worse the longer cleaning is neglected. Dirty clothing on Zois shows visible dark grime, while clean clothes display full color and brightness.

Cleaning Tools

Four cleaning tools are available, purchased through Build Mode or the Pocket Market on the smartphone.

Cleaning tools do not permanently break or need repair. The "uses per session" count resets (tools recharge) between cleaning sessions.

Cleaning Efficiently

Cleaning floor sections is more efficient than cleaning individual furniture pieces. When you direct a Zoi to clean a floor section, nearby furniture on that section also gets cleaned. Bathroom fixtures (sinks, toilets, showers) are also cleaned automatically when you mop the bathroom floor; there is no separate scrubbing interaction for individual fixtures.

For larger cleaning jobs, use the multi-action commands:

Dirt Accumulation Rate

Dirt accumulates automatically over time regardless of usage frequency. At launch, the decay rate was extremely aggressive; players reported houses getting completely dirty within less than 12 hours of in-game time.

Patch v0.1.7 (April 2025) significantly slowed the rate at which lots become dirty. The developers acknowledged "the previous setting caused pollution to occur too frequently, disrupting the natural flow of gameplay."

The City Sanitation setting (under City Management > City Stability) affects the rate at which Zois and furniture become dirty. The slider has nine levels from Lowest to Highest, with higher settings supposedly increasing the rate at which things become clean. Results vary by player reports.

Furniture Deterioration and Refurbishing

Separate from regular dirt, furniture physically deteriorates over time. Sofas and beds develop visible tears, tables and counters show scuffs, and cabinets get worn-out finishes. Electronics like computers, TVs, washing machines, and stoves can break down entirely. Objects used more regularly deteriorate faster.

Warning: Broken electronics left unrepaired can cause fires. Address broken appliances promptly.

Hiring Cleaners

Two cleaning services are available through the Pocket Market app on the smartphone:

Important: When a cleaner arrives at the property, you must click on them and select the option to invite them in. Cleaners will not enter the house on their own. Forgetting this step means the cleaner stands outside and eventually leaves. These are one-time services with no recurring subscription option.

Laundry

Dirty clothes are handled through the laundry system. inZOI has nine outfit categories: Everyday, Formal, School, Sleepwear, Party, Sportswear, Swimwear, Summer, and Winter. Each category currently supports only one outfit slot.

The Hygiene Need

Hygiene is one of four physical needs (alongside Hunger, Sleep, and Bathroom). Low Hygiene does not kill a Zoi, but it makes nearby Zois uncomfortable and can effectively isolate the household.

The Perfectionist trait causes the Hygiene gauge to decrease more quickly, meaning those Zois need more frequent grooming.

Housework Skill

Cleaning contributes to the Housework skill. Higher levels make cleaning faster and more thorough. The skill can be raised through cleaning with any tool, doing laundry, repairing broken electronics, refurbishing furniture, crafting custom furniture at a Furniture Workbench, and performing cleaning tasks at active jobs (Deli, Burger Shop).

The Uncomfortable emotion slows Housework skill growth, and when it escalates to Displeased, it further hinders growth. Address mood issues (hunger, sleep, hygiene) before attempting cleaning sessions.

Neat Freak Ambition

The Neat Freak ambition (under Stay Healthy) tracks cleaning milestones across three levels:

Cleaning-Related Traits

Players can also set cleaning as a preference under Zoi Card > Preferences (yellow heart on cleaning and laundry). With Autonomy enabled, the Zoi will clean automatically whenever the opportunity arises.

Writing personality descriptions like "you are a clean freak" in the Smart Zoi prompt demonstrably increases autonomous cleaning behavior, even without changing formal preferences.

Toddlers and Messes

Toddlers generate significant mess: diapers, bottles, trash, and papers knocked from bookcases. A major bug in earlier versions caused Zois to not autonomously clean up toddler-generated messes, leaving houses full of debris. This was fixed in v0.4.4 (November 2025). Toddlers also trigger frequent "Clean Up" requests in the Zoi queue.

Outdoor Cleaning

Outdoor areas (lawns and exterior spaces) also accumulate dirt and contribute to the overall lot cleanliness rating. The broom is the tool intended for outdoor use, though a known quirk causes Zois and hired cleaners to occasionally vacuum the lawn instead. The community views this as a design quirk that may be refined in future updates.

Cheats

Patch History

Tips

• Buy a Cordless Vacuum (35 Meow) as soon as possible. It cleans 5 spots per session versus 3 for the mop/broom. Upgrade to the Premium Vacuum at Housework Level 3.

• Clean floor sections rather than individual furniture. It covers more area per action, and bathroom fixtures are cleaned automatically when you mop the floor.

• Use Clean 3 or Clean 5 multi-actions to automate cleaning runs without manual direction for each spot.

• Set cleaning as a preference on one adult Zoi (Zoi Card > Preferences > yellow heart on cleaning and laundry) so dirty areas get handled automatically with Autonomy enabled.

• Buy a broom early for outdoor cleaning. It is the only tool that works outside.

• Level Housework to 3 as soon as possible to unlock the Premium Vacuum. It is expensive (450 Meow) but covers more area and is significantly more efficient.

• Repair broken appliances yourself instead of hiring a technician (100 Meow). It saves money and grants Housework XP.

• Feed your Zoi and let them rest before cleaning sessions. The Uncomfortable emotion slows Housework skill growth.

• Watch the Home Information Screen periodically. It gives a snapshot of how dirty the house is before the visual grime becomes obvious.

• If money is tight, the Spick-And-Span service at 100 Meow is affordable and handles the basics. Remember to click the cleaner to invite them inside.