diff --git a/core/lib/list_item_hunter.js b/core/lib/list_item_hunter.js
index c13078f2f..7ffe450de 100644
--- a/core/lib/list_item_hunter.js
+++ b/core/lib/list_item_hunter.js
@@ -2,9 +2,9 @@
 
 const list_item_hunter = function () {
   const extend = require('util')._extend;
+  const _ = require('lodash');
   const pa = require('./pattern_assembler');
   const smh = require('./style_modifier_hunter');
-  const plutils = require('./utilities');
   const jsonCopy = require('./json_copy');
   const Pattern = require('./object_factory').Pattern;
 
@@ -47,7 +47,7 @@ const list_item_hunter = function () {
           console.log(err);
         }
 
-        listData = plutils.mergeData(listData, pattern.listitems);
+        listData = _.merge(listData, pattern.listitems);
         listData = pattern_assembler.parse_data_links_specific(patternlab, listData, 'listitems.json + any pattern listitems.json');
 
         //iterate over each copied block, rendering its contents along with pattenlab.listitems[i]
@@ -68,8 +68,8 @@ const list_item_hunter = function () {
             console.log(err);
           }
 
-          let allData = plutils.mergeData(globalData, localData);
-          allData = plutils.mergeData(allData, itemData !== undefined ? itemData[i] : {}); //itemData could be undefined if the listblock contains no partial, just markup
+          let allData = _.merge(globalData, localData);
+          allData = _.merge(allData, itemData !== undefined ? itemData[i] : {}); //itemData could be undefined if the listblock contains no partial, just markup
           allData.link = extend({}, patternlab.data.link);
 
           //check for partials within the repeated block
diff --git a/core/lib/parameter_hunter.js b/core/lib/parameter_hunter.js
index 07c20a167..c5a5d9ce5 100644
--- a/core/lib/parameter_hunter.js
+++ b/core/lib/parameter_hunter.js
@@ -2,10 +2,10 @@
 
 const parameter_hunter = function () {
   const extend = require('util')._extend;
+  const _ = require('lodash');
   const jsonCopy = require('./json_copy');
   const pa = require('./pattern_assembler');
   const smh = require('./style_modifier_hunter');
-  const plutils = require('./utilities');
   const style_modifier_hunter = new smh();
   const pattern_assembler = new pa();
 
@@ -267,8 +267,8 @@ const parameter_hunter = function () {
           console.log(err);
         }
 
-        let allData = plutils.mergeData(globalData, localData);
-        allData = plutils.mergeData(allData, paramData);
+        let allData = _.merge(globalData, localData);
+        allData = _.merge(allData, paramData);
 
         //if partial has style modifier data, replace the styleModifier value
         if (pattern.stylePartials && pattern.stylePartials.length > 0) {
diff --git a/core/lib/pattern_assembler.js b/core/lib/pattern_assembler.js
index d63b1be11..d83a0f7c3 100644
--- a/core/lib/pattern_assembler.js
+++ b/core/lib/pattern_assembler.js
@@ -62,7 +62,7 @@ const pattern_assembler = function () {
         list.push(container.listitems[item]);
       }
     }
-    container.listItemArray = plutils.shuffle(list);
+    container.listItemArray = _.shuffle(list);
 
     for (var i = 1; i <= container.listItemArray.length; i++) {
       var tempItems = [];
@@ -149,7 +149,7 @@ const pattern_assembler = function () {
       var markdownFileContents = fs.readFileSync(markdownFileName, 'utf8');
 
       var markdownObject = markdown_parser.parse(markdownFileContents);
-      if (!plutils.isObjectEmpty(markdownObject)) {
+      if (!_.isEmpty(markdownObject)) {
         //set keys and markdown itself
         currentPattern.patternDescExists = true;
         currentPattern.patternDesc = markdownObject.markdown;
diff --git a/core/lib/patternlab.js b/core/lib/patternlab.js
index 3d1272967..aef5520ae 100644
--- a/core/lib/patternlab.js
+++ b/core/lib/patternlab.js
@@ -401,7 +401,7 @@ const patternlab_engine = function (config) {
       console.log('There was an error parsing JSON for ' + pattern.relPath);
       console.log(err);
     }
-    allData = plutils.mergeData(allData, pattern.jsonFileData);
+    allData = _.merge(allData, pattern.jsonFileData);
     allData.cacheBuster = patternlab.cacheBuster;
 
     //re-rendering the headHTML each time allows pattern-specific data to influence the head of the pattern
@@ -452,7 +452,7 @@ const patternlab_engine = function (config) {
       console.log('There was an error parsing JSON for ' + pattern.relPath);
       console.log(err);
     }
-    allFooterData = plutils.mergeData(allFooterData, pattern.jsonFileData);
+    allFooterData = _.merge(allFooterData, pattern.jsonFileData);
     allFooterData.patternLabFoot = footerPartial;
 
     const footerHTML = pattern_assembler.renderPattern(patternlab.userFoot, allFooterData);
diff --git a/core/lib/pseudopattern_hunter.js b/core/lib/pseudopattern_hunter.js
index 3c7c14edc..debae2d8c 100644
--- a/core/lib/pseudopattern_hunter.js
+++ b/core/lib/pseudopattern_hunter.js
@@ -3,9 +3,9 @@
 const ch = require('./changes_hunter');
 const glob = require('glob');
 const fs = require('fs-extra');
+const _ = require('lodash');
 const lh = require('./lineage_hunter');
 const Pattern = require('./object_factory').Pattern;
-const plutils = require('./utilities');
 const path = require('path');
 const lineage_hunter = new lh();
 const changes_hunter = new ch();
@@ -43,7 +43,7 @@ pseudopattern_hunter.prototype.find_pseudopatterns = function (currentPattern, p
       }
 
       //extend any existing data with variant data
-      variantFileData = plutils.mergeData(currentPattern.jsonFileData, variantFileData);
+      variantFileData = _.merge(currentPattern.jsonFileData, variantFileData);
 
       let variantName = pseudoPatterns[i].substring(pseudoPatterns[i].indexOf('~') + 1).split('.')[0];
       let variantFilePath = path.join(currentPattern.subdir, currentPattern.fileName + '~' + variantName + '.json');
@@ -89,7 +89,7 @@ pseudopattern_hunter.prototype.find_pseudopatterns = function (currentPattern, p
       }
 
       //extend any existing data with variant data
-      variantFileData = plutils.mergeData(currentPattern.jsonFileData, variantFileData);
+      variantFileData = _.merge(currentPattern.jsonFileData, variantFileData);
 
       variantName = pseudoPatterns[i].substring(pseudoPatterns[i].indexOf('~') + 1).split('.')[0];
       variantFilePath = path.join(currentPattern.subdir, currentPattern.fileName + '~' + variantName + '.json');
diff --git a/core/lib/starterkit_manager.js b/core/lib/starterkit_manager.js
index f0741ce37..2498580b9 100644
--- a/core/lib/starterkit_manager.js
+++ b/core/lib/starterkit_manager.js
@@ -31,7 +31,7 @@ const starterkit_manager = function (config) {
 
         if (clean) {
           console.log('Deleting contents of', paths.source.root, 'prior to starterkit load.');
-          util.emptyDirectory(paths.source.root);
+          fs.emptyDirSync(paths.source.root);
         } else {
           console.log('Overwriting contents of', paths.source.root, 'during starterkit load.');
         }
diff --git a/core/lib/utilities.js b/core/lib/utilities.js
index e464ec909..b271ac14c 100644
--- a/core/lib/utilities.js
+++ b/core/lib/utilities.js
@@ -49,97 +49,6 @@ const warning = log.warning.bind(log);
  */
 const error = log.error.bind(log);
 
-  /**
-   * Shuffles an array in place.
-   * http://stackoverflow.com/questions/6274339/how-can-i-shuffle-an-array-in-javascript
-   *
-   * @param {Array} o
-   * @returns {Array} o
-   */
-const shuffle = function (o) {
-  /*eslint-disable curly*/
-  for (var j, x, i = o.length; i; j = Math.floor(Math.random() * i), x = o[--i], o[i] = o[j], o[j] = x);
-  return o;
-};
-
-/**
- * Recursively merge properties of two objects.
- *
- * @param {Object} obj1 If obj1 has properties obj2 doesn't, add to obj2.
- * @param {Object} obj2 This object's properties have priority over obj1.
- * @returns {Object} obj2
- */
-const mergeData = function (obj1, obj2) {
-  /*eslint-disable no-param-reassign, guard-for-in*/
-  if (typeof obj2 === 'undefined') {
-    obj2 = {};
-  }
-  for (var p in obj1) {
-    try {
-      // Only recurse if obj1[p] is an object.
-      if (obj1[p].constructor === Object) {
-        // Requires 2 objects as params; create obj2[p] if undefined.
-        if (typeof obj2[p] === 'undefined') {
-          obj2[p] = {};
-        }
-        obj2[p] = mergeData(obj1[p], obj2[p]);
-
-        // Pop when recursion meets a non-object. If obj1[p] is a non-object,
-        // only copy to undefined obj2[p]. This way, obj2 maintains priority.
-      } else if (typeof obj2[p] === 'undefined') {
-        obj2[p] = obj1[p];
-      }
-    } catch (e) {
-      // Property in destination object not set; create it and set its value.
-      if (typeof obj2[p] === 'undefined') {
-        obj2[p] = obj1[p];
-      }
-    }
-  }
-  return obj2;
-};
-
-/**
- * Determines whether or not an object is empty.
- *
- * @param {Object} obj
- * @returns {Boolean}
- */
-const isObjectEmpty = function (obj) {
-  for (var prop in obj) {
-    if (obj.hasOwnProperty(prop)) { return false; }
-  }
-  return true;
-};
-
-/**
- * Recursively delete the contents of directory.
- * Adapted from https://gist.github.com/tkihira/2367067
- *
- * @param {string} dir - directory to empty
- * @param {string} cleanDir - already empty directory
- * @returns {undefined}
- */
-const emptyDirectory = function (dir, cleanDir) {
-  var list = fs.readdirSync(dir);
-  for (var i = 0; i < list.length; i++) {
-    var filename = path.join(dir, list[i]);
-    var stat = fs.statSync(filename);
-
-    if (filename === "." || filename === "..") {
-      // pass these files
-    } else if (stat.isDirectory()) {
-      this.emptyDirectory(filename);
-    } else {
-      // rm fiilename
-      fs.unlinkSync(filename);
-    }
-  }
-  if (cleanDir) {
-    fs.rmdirSync(dir);
-  }
-};
-
 /**
  * Useful for reporting errors in .catch() on Promises
  * @param {string} - a message to report
@@ -158,9 +67,5 @@ module.exports = {
   warning,
   error,
   log,
-  shuffle,
-  mergeData,
-  isObjectEmpty,
-  emptyDirectory,
   reportError
 };