I'm pushing this week's newsletter to Tuesday because I peopled too hard over the weekend. Hosting friends for three straight days and the anti-social act of writing don't mix. In the meantime, I'm opening this week's discussion thread to everyone.
Do you ask people to remove their shoes when they enter your house? Based on the anger I've seen on this topic online, I might be the only agnostic on this issue on the entire internet. I prefer to take off my own shoes because I find them uncomfortable, but I don't care what other people do here. I have nothing to protect. No matter how clean my floor looks, it's dirtier than your shoes thanks to all my pets and kids. Walk around in your socks at your own risk. If anything, wearing your shoes might make my floor cleaner. You could take our germs with you when you leave. What's your indoor shoe policy? Sound off in the comments.
I just don't have time to worry about shoes on or off. Sure, if you just walked through a pit of mud, please leave them outside my apartment, but other than that, do you, boo!
As a mostly shoes on person, I have to remind myself of this. More than once, I've spent a day doing yard work and then tracked in mud without noticing it. The good news is I'm only punishing myself since I'm also the one who cleans the floors. No marriages were endangered by that mishap.
I live in Canada. It’s expected that you take off your shoes when you enter a home here. I would think someone incredibly rude if they did not remove their shoes in my home. Some people even have a basket of slippers at their front door for guests. Maybe it’s because we get so much snow and our boots are so messy in the winter? I don’t know.
Winter is a totally different story. I'd expect everyone to take off their shoes, too. There's nothing worse than walking around the house in socks and stepping on melted snow that someone tracked in.
That's interesting, because when I went to visit my cousin in Canada (she married a Canadian), she made us take our shoes off. Her sister, who lives in the U.S., does not. She also got very upset at one point when her Canadian husband forgot and walked through the living room.
I recall attending a dinner party at my bosses house back in the day and he requested everyone remove their shoes. A co-worker was embarrasssed because she had a run in her hose that was hidden by her shoes, but she was forced to walk around with a hole that was obvious when she had to remove her shoes. I never want to put someone in that situation.
My pigs scare people. They like to sniff toes. Many guests are more comfortable with an extra barrier of canvas protecting their toes from roaming snouts.
When I was a child, I wasn’t allowed to remove my shoes except to sleep or to shower, not even indoors. (We lived near railroad tracks with lots of nails, cockleburs, and thistles.)
As an adult, I discovered that I loved the feeling of walking in bare feet on carpet. The second I got home, I would kick off my shoes. My kids do the same. Unfortunately planter’s fasciitis now makes it painful to walk barefoot. Getting old sucks.
I live in a neurospicy household. I leave shoes and pants up to the individual. I hate to wear shoes. My son hates socks and shoes. My mother will freeze to death on a 90 degree day if she doesn't have her wool socks and shoes (true story. She wore her thick wool socks for this entire heat wave). Yesterday was the eighth day of a brutal heat wave, so my son was over wearing any clothes at all. Basically, the policy can be summed up as "You do you, boo."
Agnostic #2. I have a Sheltie. She poops in the woods around our house. Leaves, twigs, all the things you find in the woods, attach themselves to her long hair and fluffy legs and she deposits them all around the house, usually 5 minutes after I’ve vacuumed. I’ve thrown in the towel.
We have ER nurses and EMT’s living in our house, so they’re religious about removing shoes before coming in. Never know what things they’ve trekked through during their shift. So we’ve all kind of adopted the no shoes practice. However, guests are free to choose. We do have socks and slippers for anyone who would like them.
Let me take this opportunity to recommend the comic novels of Colson Whitehead. In Crook Manifesto, there is a hilarious scene in which one character refuses to remove his shoes because of his reverence for his….socks.
My youngest grandchild, 2 and 1/2 years old, makes sure I remove my shoes when we visit her, and I am happy to oblige since my daughter and son in law keep their home immaculate in spite of three small children and a cranky dog. My housekeeping standards are much lower, and I have two fluffy dogs and live in a forested area over a creek. Visitors would be well advised to protect their socks (and feet) in our house.
I typically ask when we go over to anyone's home if they want us to take our shoes off, but when it comes to our own home, I don't really care, provided of course shoes are not covered in mud or snow etc. I just want people to feel comfortable, I'm not comfortable inside with my shoes on, so I prefer to have them off. It makes me think that friends invited over who don't take their shoes off maybe aren't that comfortable in our home. Repair people though, we ask them to wear shoe covers, but most bring them and have them ready to go when they get here anyway.
We don't have a shoe policy, although we should. I always find it weird when visitors insist on taking off their shoes, then create a trip hazard with them. We now have a spaniel for whom shoe collection is a dedicated calling so it's quite a risk leaving them unattended...
My family takes their shoes off when we enter our home but we do not require our guests do the same though many choose to do so. Personally I hate wearing shoes and would go barefoot year round if the Illinois weather and state laws would let me LOL best I can do is sandals for 3/4 of the year only switching to closed shoes when the weather is the coldest and nastiest.
I have rheumatoid arthritis. I generally get home from somewhere and change into a pair of slippers with arch support. (OK, they're fleece lined crocs. They work.) If I walk around in flat little booties at other people's houses I end up in a lot of pain. So I either wear fairly clean shoes or I don't visit. If your rugs are more important than my comfort I guess I don't need to go to your house.
Shoes off, please. If someone isn’t comfortable with that (repair-persons, etc) then I have a basket of shoe covers at the door they can use instead. I have indoor cats and so don’t want strange germs brought in from outside that could potentially harm them.
Three weeks ago, Pratchett entered my life. Like you with pigs, I need dogs in my life. Neelix had been gone for 5 weeks, and my friend had a German Shepard puppy who looked so cute. He had to come home with me. He is 12 weeks old now, and while accidents are fewer, sometimes they still happen. Sometimes the period of time between reports he has to pee and the time needed to pee is not enough time to put shoes on. So for now, it's shoes in the house. But as soon as he gets more warning time, or masters the art of not peeing with excitement when I pick up the leash, or he sees the cat, it's back to shoes off.
I grew up along the East Coast and Adulted in the Mid-West. This was all during the Dark Ages and my family mostly kept shoes on except boots. Inclement weather dictated no boots. Imagine my surprise after migrating to the opposite coast, that we were supposed to take our shoes off when entering another person's home. We quickly linked up with new friends that didn't have a shoes off policy. Personally, I don't care, in fact I prefer barefoot, but my spouse hated taking his shoes off, even in our own house.
I would prefer they leave them on. I can assure you that you will end up with dog hair on you socks and you won’t be happy. Let’s face it some people no matter what they do have stinky feet and I don’t want to smell them. So keep your shoes on and we will both be happy
My shoes come off immediately when I enter because I hate shoes. My feet hate shoes. When we had light colored carpet it was required except for company - it was optional. Otherwise it makes no difference to me but as soon as I enter someone else’s home I ask if it’s okay for me to take off my shoes.
Please, please don’t wear your “outdoor shoes” in my house. Ideally, people don’t have to ask others to remove their shoes - it would be common courtesy, to not bring the dirt and germs and micro-dust of the street into the indoor living space & to decrease the amount of cleaning we all have to do (so yes, call me lazy)
We take off ours for comfort, guests can do as they please. I prefer off but I live in a country where the expectation is to keep them on, so sometimes I have guests asking if they can take them off, which I welcome. But my extended family never takes theirs off and they think it is kind of rude to take shoes off at another person's house.
Very true. I always defer to the rules of the host. Although if I visit a shoes off house often enough It happens to be cold, I might bring my own indoor slippers just in case.
Please don’t take off your shoes in my house because your socks will never be clean again. We don’t take them off downstairs, but upstairs is carpeted so we do take them off when we go up. I don’t expect the same of my guests. I think it is awkward to expect guests to take off their shoes, especially if they aren’t wearing socks.
In this case, I do not care. I always have shoes or slippers on. Half of my family members abandon their shoes when they come over; I have a shoe bench for them. But it is up you when you visit me.
I don't have a policy because that wouldn't feel welcoming. Also my mother, who doesn't live with me, would be appalled at the thought of removing shoes anywhere other than at bedside just before climbing in for the night. I personally don't like shoes OR slippers so I kick mine off as quickly as possible. I like it when visitors take their shoes off so as not to track in dirt but I'm not going to lose sleep over it. And I'm not organized enough to keep a basket of slippers by the door. I'm curious about this practice, as it is followed in many countries. How many of each size slipper to do you provide?
I never have to ask people to remove shoes - people here just do. In Canada, it’s just the opposite as you have to ask people to keep their shoes on if that’s what you want. And people will always give you that "are you sure?" look and insist they don’t mind taking them off. Question for people who live in places where shoe removal is not the norm: do your repairman/delivery folks bring along the little paper booties to put over their boots when they walk into the house?
Interesting. Thanks for the reply. I’ve never, ever had an outside worker person keep their boots on without shoe covers. Well except for the ones who literally roll out a canvas cover to walk on!
Guest can wear or remove shoes as they please. I don't wear shoes in the house because I find barefoot (or sock-foot) so much more comfortable. It also prevents tracking shmutz onto the floors and carpets.
Our Japanese teacher taught us to leave our shoes on a mat at the entrance and to have slippers available. We did that for a while, but had trouble slipping on the wood floors so I gave it up. My husband who works at a nursing home continues the practice.
I do not take off my shoes at home, nor ask anyone to do so. 1. My carpet is nearly 35 years old. I prefer to protect people's feet from my carpet. 2. I have extremely high arches, and need the arch support provided by my orthotics. 3. My feet get cold very easily, so I have to take slippers with me if people don't provide them, and few do. 4. If I asked people to take off their shoes, I'd feel compelled to provide slippers for multiple sizes.
I have no problem with anyone keeping their shoes on in my house. Rain, snow or mud most people are polite and will remove their shoes/boots on their own. Trust me, my floors are not that much cleaner than the great outdoors. My house is lived in.
It really doesn't matter to us. We have 4 dogs and 4 cats so I constantly either vacuum or sweep my floors. We also have 3 chickens and two ducks so when we go into their kennel we always take our shoes off for that and I pretty much always take my shoes off when I go home. If you come to our house just leave them off if you prefer.
The only visitors we get are maintenance, and I definitely prefer them leave their shoes on lol
Growing up, we left our shoes on in any house we went to except my best friend. They had a strict no shoe policy with a shoe rack by the front door. And I don’t recall anyone having a no shoe policy among my friends and family now, though for family we mostly do it anyway. Though back in the day, at my in-laws, taking your shoes off was a risk, because when you put them back on, they may be wet inside from their shoe-obsessed dog. That one passed many years ago though, and subsequent dogs have stolen shoes occasionally but no more licking 🤣
Among my family and friends putting shoes off is something everybody does in order to limit the dirt and debris getting inside, though the hosts always say the guests can stay in boots. This social pressure to remove shoes does not appy to people from administration, doing repairs and other officials, as well as priests visiting. Only at grandparents we can wear slippers, because they don't have heated floor.
The biggest advocate of the "shoes-off" policy is my mum, whose arguments I've mentioned previously: "she can't stand the dirt being spread all over the house. Moreover, for her it's disgusting to think that's gonna get onto blankets and couches. Her final argument is her belief that having shoes removed makes vacuuming and mopping easier and quicker & it's unnecessary to have anything more than socks due to our heated floor. I can agree with all of that, as well as with that going around only in socks (or barefoot in summer, although in that scenario you have to wash them with pumice) is a great leisure for human feet. The only one who can go home directly with the products of the outside is our cat."
Oh no! I wondered if I'd done this one before. It popped up on Twitter again, and the discourse was flying off. Apparently people have plenty to say on the topic a second time around.
I agree, and yet this second round turned out to be (in my non-native eye) even better than the previous one, with many great stories and viewpoints definitely worth spending a long time on reading them all.
I'm like you in finding shoes uncomfortable. In fact, I did a sort of social experiment for two or three years where I pretty much didn't wear shoes anywhere except to work (because I didn't want to get fired). I went barefoot to church, stores, restaurants, the airport... I mostly got away with it, too, and I developed some impressive calluses to enable me to walk on all kinds of surfaces. But I got "dinged" enough by the shoe police that I finally gave up on it and went back to flip-flops.
So yeah, I kick my shoes off the minute I come home. In my old condo, I let people do whatever they were comfortable with in terms of shoes on or off. It can be a little more of an issue now that I'm in an RV since the surface area of floor is small (making dirt more concentrated) and people are more likely to have just walked through mud when they come in my door. But honestly I don't entertain a lot of guests inside anyway.
At other people's houses, I mostly try to imitate whatever they are doing. Since I attend a church that's about 60% Asian, a lot of my friends have no-shoes-in-the-house bred deep into their bones. I have noticed, though, that a lot of them are uncomfortable being barefoot and just exchange outside shoes for house slippers when they come in. I'd rather let my toes breathe free, personally!
I have never, nor would ever, ask anyone to remove their shoes. What if they have a hole in their sock or ugly toenails they don't want anyone else to see? I'd rather have a dirty floor than have someone embarrassed. And when the kids were here with their friends, that would have been a losing battle to ask them to do. The only thing I've ever asked is for MrP to put those disposable shoe covers on when he's been working in the yard or flower garden and he's going in and out and tracking in mud/grass/leaves. He remembered a couple of times and then forgot, so oh well, he's the one who cleans the floor.
I leave mine on, hubby switches to orthopedic slippers due to a bout with plantar fasciitis. I let guests do what they want. I spent some childhood years in Newfoundland however and there it was considered a must that you remove your shoes as you came in the door to any house. People had big rubber mats just inside the door where you placed your shoes.
At other people's houses I take them off. My house? Do as you please 🤷🏻♀️ We don't have carpets and an outdoor cat who drags in dirt all the time so I'll be hoovering the floor anyway.... so do as you please, but at your own risk 😅
I’ve never asked any non-family member to take off their shoes before entering my house. However, my kids used to have a “no shoes on the carpet” rule. They messed the carpets up anyway with their drinks and food and kid calamities. Then, we had all the carpets removed and wood floors installed upstairs. I have always worn slides in the house (the recovery kind). Oofos. Love them! My husband always wears socks or goes barefoot. He doesn’t mind banging his toes into hard surfaces, I guess.
I always keep my shoes on where ever I go. I never go barefoot anywhere, even at home. I wear slippers in the house. If you are concerned about keeping carpets clean, vacuum them daily and have them shampooed every month.
I live in Indiana, and I wear slipper socks in my house. I have hardwood floors, and multiple animals, so....fur everywhere....and I have no opinion on what others choose to do with their footwear in my home.
I just don't have time to worry about shoes on or off. Sure, if you just walked through a pit of mud, please leave them outside my apartment, but other than that, do you, boo!
As a mostly shoes on person, I have to remind myself of this. More than once, I've spent a day doing yard work and then tracked in mud without noticing it. The good news is I'm only punishing myself since I'm also the one who cleans the floors. No marriages were endangered by that mishap.
I live in Canada. It’s expected that you take off your shoes when you enter a home here. I would think someone incredibly rude if they did not remove their shoes in my home. Some people even have a basket of slippers at their front door for guests. Maybe it’s because we get so much snow and our boots are so messy in the winter? I don’t know.
Winter is a totally different story. I'd expect everyone to take off their shoes, too. There's nothing worse than walking around the house in socks and stepping on melted snow that someone tracked in.
I grew up in the US in the Midwest in a home that didn’t allow shoes to be off. Isn’t that interesting how different one’s experiences can be?
That's interesting, because when I went to visit my cousin in Canada (she married a Canadian), she made us take our shoes off. Her sister, who lives in the U.S., does not. She also got very upset at one point when her Canadian husband forgot and walked through the living room.
I recall attending a dinner party at my bosses house back in the day and he requested everyone remove their shoes. A co-worker was embarrasssed because she had a run in her hose that was hidden by her shoes, but she was forced to walk around with a hole that was obvious when she had to remove her shoes. I never want to put someone in that situation.
My shoes also hide embarrassing secrets. They're called my feet.
Shoes welcome here! That way we don’t have to endure smelly feet.
I will always acquiesce to the homeowner but…it makes no matter to me if people keep their shoes on in my house. To each their own!
If you walk around in socks on my floor, you will slip and slide on the dog hair. Safer to wear bowling shoes or spikes.
My pigs scare people. They like to sniff toes. Many guests are more comfortable with an extra barrier of canvas protecting their toes from roaming snouts.
Dogs definitely have to be part of the equation.
I agree I have 2 dogs that shed unmercifully! I don’t expect anyone to take off their shoes
When I was a child, I wasn’t allowed to remove my shoes except to sleep or to shower, not even indoors. (We lived near railroad tracks with lots of nails, cockleburs, and thistles.)
As an adult, I discovered that I loved the feeling of walking in bare feet on carpet. The second I got home, I would kick off my shoes. My kids do the same. Unfortunately planter’s fasciitis now makes it painful to walk barefoot. Getting old sucks.
I live in a neurospicy household. I leave shoes and pants up to the individual. I hate to wear shoes. My son hates socks and shoes. My mother will freeze to death on a 90 degree day if she doesn't have her wool socks and shoes (true story. She wore her thick wool socks for this entire heat wave). Yesterday was the eighth day of a brutal heat wave, so my son was over wearing any clothes at all. Basically, the policy can be summed up as "You do you, boo."
Agnostic #2. I have a Sheltie. She poops in the woods around our house. Leaves, twigs, all the things you find in the woods, attach themselves to her long hair and fluffy legs and she deposits them all around the house, usually 5 minutes after I’ve vacuumed. I’ve thrown in the towel.
Shelties are adorable and also nature's swiffer.
Exactly right!
I'm with you. I have 2 Shelties and if you don't wear shoes you will have dog hair covering your socks.
I leave my shoes on at home because I have issues with my back and feet.
I've learned to wear socks or slippers in Winter due to some minor circulatory issues, so I hear you!
We have ER nurses and EMT’s living in our house, so they’re religious about removing shoes before coming in. Never know what things they’ve trekked through during their shift. So we’ve all kind of adopted the no shoes practice. However, guests are free to choose. We do have socks and slippers for anyone who would like them.
In my home, we usually walk around barefoot. But I don't care whether guests leave their shoes on or off. It doesn't matter to me.
Let me take this opportunity to recommend the comic novels of Colson Whitehead. In Crook Manifesto, there is a hilarious scene in which one character refuses to remove his shoes because of his reverence for his….socks.
My youngest grandchild, 2 and 1/2 years old, makes sure I remove my shoes when we visit her, and I am happy to oblige since my daughter and son in law keep their home immaculate in spite of three small children and a cranky dog. My housekeeping standards are much lower, and I have two fluffy dogs and live in a forested area over a creek. Visitors would be well advised to protect their socks (and feet) in our house.
I typically ask when we go over to anyone's home if they want us to take our shoes off, but when it comes to our own home, I don't really care, provided of course shoes are not covered in mud or snow etc. I just want people to feel comfortable, I'm not comfortable inside with my shoes on, so I prefer to have them off. It makes me think that friends invited over who don't take their shoes off maybe aren't that comfortable in our home. Repair people though, we ask them to wear shoe covers, but most bring them and have them ready to go when they get here anyway.
We don't have a shoe policy, although we should. I always find it weird when visitors insist on taking off their shoes, then create a trip hazard with them. We now have a spaniel for whom shoe collection is a dedicated calling so it's quite a risk leaving them unattended...
My family takes their shoes off when we enter our home but we do not require our guests do the same though many choose to do so. Personally I hate wearing shoes and would go barefoot year round if the Illinois weather and state laws would let me LOL best I can do is sandals for 3/4 of the year only switching to closed shoes when the weather is the coldest and nastiest.
State laws regarding footwear? Goodness!
I have rheumatoid arthritis. I generally get home from somewhere and change into a pair of slippers with arch support. (OK, they're fleece lined crocs. They work.) If I walk around in flat little booties at other people's houses I end up in a lot of pain. So I either wear fairly clean shoes or I don't visit. If your rugs are more important than my comfort I guess I don't need to go to your house.
Shoes off, please. If someone isn’t comfortable with that (repair-persons, etc) then I have a basket of shoe covers at the door they can use instead. I have indoor cats and so don’t want strange germs brought in from outside that could potentially harm them.
My policy was shoes off, until three weeks ago.
Three weeks ago, Pratchett entered my life. Like you with pigs, I need dogs in my life. Neelix had been gone for 5 weeks, and my friend had a German Shepard puppy who looked so cute. He had to come home with me. He is 12 weeks old now, and while accidents are fewer, sometimes they still happen. Sometimes the period of time between reports he has to pee and the time needed to pee is not enough time to put shoes on. So for now, it's shoes in the house. But as soon as he gets more warning time, or masters the art of not peeing with excitement when I pick up the leash, or he sees the cat, it's back to shoes off.
I grew up along the East Coast and Adulted in the Mid-West. This was all during the Dark Ages and my family mostly kept shoes on except boots. Inclement weather dictated no boots. Imagine my surprise after migrating to the opposite coast, that we were supposed to take our shoes off when entering another person's home. We quickly linked up with new friends that didn't have a shoes off policy. Personally, I don't care, in fact I prefer barefoot, but my spouse hated taking his shoes off, even in our own house.
I usually take my shoes off - at home and away, but I have no requirements in my home. Do what you’re comfortable with here!!
I would prefer they leave them on. I can assure you that you will end up with dog hair on you socks and you won’t be happy. Let’s face it some people no matter what they do have stinky feet and I don’t want to smell them. So keep your shoes on and we will both be happy
My shoes come off immediately when I enter because I hate shoes. My feet hate shoes. When we had light colored carpet it was required except for company - it was optional. Otherwise it makes no difference to me but as soon as I enter someone else’s home I ask if it’s okay for me to take off my shoes.
I would prefer no shoes, but I’m not a stickler and we don’t have many visitors. My family takes their shoes off.
This is an easy one! As a grouchy, retired recluse, I don’t allow people to come into my home. An occasional stray cat, yes—people no. 🐝💨
Please, please don’t wear your “outdoor shoes” in my house. Ideally, people don’t have to ask others to remove their shoes - it would be common courtesy, to not bring the dirt and germs and micro-dust of the street into the indoor living space & to decrease the amount of cleaning we all have to do (so yes, call me lazy)
We take off ours for comfort, guests can do as they please. I prefer off but I live in a country where the expectation is to keep them on, so sometimes I have guests asking if they can take them off, which I welcome. But my extended family never takes theirs off and they think it is kind of rude to take shoes off at another person's house.
I'm #TeamShoesOff all the way.
I'll admit that it gets awkward to ask people to take off their shoes, but hey: my apartment, my rules.
Very true. I always defer to the rules of the host. Although if I visit a shoes off house often enough It happens to be cold, I might bring my own indoor slippers just in case.
You don’t have to. I provide my guests clean indoor slippers 😂
Please don’t take off your shoes in my house because your socks will never be clean again. We don’t take them off downstairs, but upstairs is carpeted so we do take them off when we go up. I don’t expect the same of my guests. I think it is awkward to expect guests to take off their shoes, especially if they aren’t wearing socks.
I live in sandy FL with my 2 fluffs. I like a clean floor but realize it’s a pipe dream. Wear your shoes or don’t makes no big difference to me
I’m Asian and my husband is not and he and our kids and their spouses, like me, don’t wear shoes inside the house.
In this case, I do not care. I always have shoes or slippers on. Half of my family members abandon their shoes when they come over; I have a shoe bench for them. But it is up you when you visit me.
I don't have a policy because that wouldn't feel welcoming. Also my mother, who doesn't live with me, would be appalled at the thought of removing shoes anywhere other than at bedside just before climbing in for the night. I personally don't like shoes OR slippers so I kick mine off as quickly as possible. I like it when visitors take their shoes off so as not to track in dirt but I'm not going to lose sleep over it. And I'm not organized enough to keep a basket of slippers by the door. I'm curious about this practice, as it is followed in many countries. How many of each size slipper to do you provide?
I never have to ask people to remove shoes - people here just do. In Canada, it’s just the opposite as you have to ask people to keep their shoes on if that’s what you want. And people will always give you that "are you sure?" look and insist they don’t mind taking them off. Question for people who live in places where shoe removal is not the norm: do your repairman/delivery folks bring along the little paper booties to put over their boots when they walk into the house?
Interesting. Thanks for the reply. I’ve never, ever had an outside worker person keep their boots on without shoe covers. Well except for the ones who literally roll out a canvas cover to walk on!
Guest can wear or remove shoes as they please. I don't wear shoes in the house because I find barefoot (or sock-foot) so much more comfortable. It also prevents tracking shmutz onto the floors and carpets.
Our Japanese teacher taught us to leave our shoes on a mat at the entrance and to have slippers available. We did that for a while, but had trouble slipping on the wood floors so I gave it up. My husband who works at a nursing home continues the practice.
I do not take off my shoes at home, nor ask anyone to do so. 1. My carpet is nearly 35 years old. I prefer to protect people's feet from my carpet. 2. I have extremely high arches, and need the arch support provided by my orthotics. 3. My feet get cold very easily, so I have to take slippers with me if people don't provide them, and few do. 4. If I asked people to take off their shoes, I'd feel compelled to provide slippers for multiple sizes.
I have no problem with anyone keeping their shoes on in my house. Rain, snow or mud most people are polite and will remove their shoes/boots on their own. Trust me, my floors are not that much cleaner than the great outdoors. My house is lived in.
Our policy is street shoes off in the house, but if family or guests come over thru can keep them on.
It really doesn't matter to us. We have 4 dogs and 4 cats so I constantly either vacuum or sweep my floors. We also have 3 chickens and two ducks so when we go into their kennel we always take our shoes off for that and I pretty much always take my shoes off when I go home. If you come to our house just leave them off if you prefer.
Particular poultry!
The only visitors we get are maintenance, and I definitely prefer them leave their shoes on lol
Growing up, we left our shoes on in any house we went to except my best friend. They had a strict no shoe policy with a shoe rack by the front door. And I don’t recall anyone having a no shoe policy among my friends and family now, though for family we mostly do it anyway. Though back in the day, at my in-laws, taking your shoes off was a risk, because when you put them back on, they may be wet inside from their shoe-obsessed dog. That one passed many years ago though, and subsequent dogs have stolen shoes occasionally but no more licking 🤣
I think there was already a thread on this topic, but I'm happy to share my thoughts once again, as after revisting they are still what I think about this matter. Also that's one of the times I'm feeling lazy https://jamesbreakwell.substack.com/p/discussion-thread-shoes-in-the-house/comments .
Among my family and friends putting shoes off is something everybody does in order to limit the dirt and debris getting inside, though the hosts always say the guests can stay in boots. This social pressure to remove shoes does not appy to people from administration, doing repairs and other officials, as well as priests visiting. Only at grandparents we can wear slippers, because they don't have heated floor.
The biggest advocate of the "shoes-off" policy is my mum, whose arguments I've mentioned previously: "she can't stand the dirt being spread all over the house. Moreover, for her it's disgusting to think that's gonna get onto blankets and couches. Her final argument is her belief that having shoes removed makes vacuuming and mopping easier and quicker & it's unnecessary to have anything more than socks due to our heated floor. I can agree with all of that, as well as with that going around only in socks (or barefoot in summer, although in that scenario you have to wash them with pumice) is a great leisure for human feet. The only one who can go home directly with the products of the outside is our cat."
Oh no! I wondered if I'd done this one before. It popped up on Twitter again, and the discourse was flying off. Apparently people have plenty to say on the topic a second time around.
I agree, and yet this second round turned out to be (in my non-native eye) even better than the previous one, with many great stories and viewpoints definitely worth spending a long time on reading them all.
I'm like you in finding shoes uncomfortable. In fact, I did a sort of social experiment for two or three years where I pretty much didn't wear shoes anywhere except to work (because I didn't want to get fired). I went barefoot to church, stores, restaurants, the airport... I mostly got away with it, too, and I developed some impressive calluses to enable me to walk on all kinds of surfaces. But I got "dinged" enough by the shoe police that I finally gave up on it and went back to flip-flops.
So yeah, I kick my shoes off the minute I come home. In my old condo, I let people do whatever they were comfortable with in terms of shoes on or off. It can be a little more of an issue now that I'm in an RV since the surface area of floor is small (making dirt more concentrated) and people are more likely to have just walked through mud when they come in my door. But honestly I don't entertain a lot of guests inside anyway.
At other people's houses, I mostly try to imitate whatever they are doing. Since I attend a church that's about 60% Asian, a lot of my friends have no-shoes-in-the-house bred deep into their bones. I have noticed, though, that a lot of them are uncomfortable being barefoot and just exchange outside shoes for house slippers when they come in. I'd rather let my toes breathe free, personally!
I have never, nor would ever, ask anyone to remove their shoes. What if they have a hole in their sock or ugly toenails they don't want anyone else to see? I'd rather have a dirty floor than have someone embarrassed. And when the kids were here with their friends, that would have been a losing battle to ask them to do. The only thing I've ever asked is for MrP to put those disposable shoe covers on when he's been working in the yard or flower garden and he's going in and out and tracking in mud/grass/leaves. He remembered a couple of times and then forgot, so oh well, he's the one who cleans the floor.
I leave mine on, hubby switches to orthopedic slippers due to a bout with plantar fasciitis. I let guests do what they want. I spent some childhood years in Newfoundland however and there it was considered a must that you remove your shoes as you came in the door to any house. People had big rubber mats just inside the door where you placed your shoes.
At other people's houses I take them off. My house? Do as you please 🤷🏻♀️ We don't have carpets and an outdoor cat who drags in dirt all the time so I'll be hoovering the floor anyway.... so do as you please, but at your own risk 😅
I’ve never asked any non-family member to take off their shoes before entering my house. However, my kids used to have a “no shoes on the carpet” rule. They messed the carpets up anyway with their drinks and food and kid calamities. Then, we had all the carpets removed and wood floors installed upstairs. I have always worn slides in the house (the recovery kind). Oofos. Love them! My husband always wears socks or goes barefoot. He doesn’t mind banging his toes into hard surfaces, I guess.
I always keep my shoes on where ever I go. I never go barefoot anywhere, even at home. I wear slippers in the house. If you are concerned about keeping carpets clean, vacuum them daily and have them shampooed every month.
We take our shoes off in our house but whether company does or not is their choice. My floors are not worth protecting, I just prefer to be barefoot.
I live in Indiana, and I wear slipper socks in my house. I have hardwood floors, and multiple animals, so....fur everywhere....and I have no opinion on what others choose to do with their footwear in my home.