From Malice to Gloom, The Legend of Zelda: Tears of the Kingdom players will come across all kinds of weird substances while exploring the Kingdom of Hyrule. One of the more unusual is the brown mud-like ooze that can be found all over the Lanayru region. Unlike some of the other map hazards in the game, this sticky brown and purple goo doesn't hurt players who walk into it, though it will slow them down quite a bit.
Naturally, those who come across this strange substance will likely be wondering what it is and how exactly they can wash it away. In fact, doing so will be essential for anybody hoping to unlock the Upland Zorana Skyview Tower or complete the Mired in Muck side quest. Thankfully, there are a few different ways to clean up the brown and purple sludge, both of which require the use of a special fruit.
How to Clean Sludge in Tears of the Kingdom
In order to wash away the sludge, players will need to get their hands on a Splash Fruit or two. Thankfully, these grow right throughout the Lanayru region and can usually be found within walking distance of patches of the purple and brown slime. Once players find some, they'll be able to harvest the fruit by standing near it and pressing the A button when prompted. They'll generally need one fruit for each patch of ooze they want to clear up, so should be sure to plan accordingly.
Once they have enough Splash Fruit, players should return to the area they want to cleanse. The first method for getting rid of brown goo involves attaching a Splash Fruit to an arrow, much like they did to get their hands on the Small Key inside the In-isa Shrine. To do this, they'll want to hold R to draw an arrow, hold Up on the D-Pad to bring up the Attach menu, and then use the right analog stick to select the Splash Fruit. They can then release Up, aim their shot, and release R to fire the arrow and wash away the purple and brown goo.
The other method for cleaning up purple slime in The Legend of Zelda: Tears of the Kingdom requires players to throw a Splash Fruit at the sludge and then shoot it with an arrow. This is arguably a little easier to pull off than the previous method, but also a bit less accurate. To get started, players should open up the materials menu, find their supply of Splash Fruit, and then choose the "Hold" option.
Once they close the menu, they'll be able to place the Splash Fruit down in front of them by pressing A or throw it a short distance by first pressing Down on the D-pad to change the "Near" prompt at the bottom of the screen to "Far." The latter will likely lead to the fruit rolling away from its intended destination, but due to the size of the splash that occurs when players shoot Splash Fruit with an arrow, this shouldn't be too much of an issue.
There are several other methods for cleaning sludge in Tears of the Kingdom, which, in certain circumstances, may actually prove to be more convenient than using Splash Fruit. For example, players can use Chuchu Jelly instead of Splash Fruit or even the Water Slash variant of Sidon's Water Shield ability. When none of the aforementioned methods are viable, there's also a fire hydrant-like Zonai Device that can be used to wash away sludge.
The Legend of Zelda: Tears of the Kingdom is available for the Nintendo Switch.