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Poll: Wearing shoes in house
I was reading this post on The Bump about wearing shoes in the house and I was pretty appalled at a couple of the responses. Maybe it's because I'm Asian (and from Hawaii), but we never wear shoes in the house and I feel really weird wearing my shoes in anyone else's house.
Plus, I work in a hospital, which is probably the filthiest place to walk around and would not EVER think to set foot in my house with my work shoes because God only knows what kinds of bacteria/viruses are on my shoes. And, really, imagine what you're stepping on outside - dogs poop on the sidewalk and even though it's picked up, the bacteria are still there and end up on your shoes.
Also, I don't think it's rude at all to ask people to remove their shoes when coming in to my house. It's MY house, right?
Thoughts?
Re: Poll: Wearing shoes in house
This is how I feel. I don't think anyone would have a problem with removing their shoes if you ask them to
I always feel strange when we go to the mainland and have to wear our shoes inside someone's house..
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we always wear shoes in the house...in washington. in hawaii, we barely wear shoes at all...we definitely take our shoes off now. i think it's more of a customary thing.
either way doesn't bother me.
Me too! I also like the feeling of not wearing shoes. If I'm at home, I like to relax, put my feet up and curl up on the couch (feet tucked under me) and I can't do that with shoes.
I think the "no shoe policy" definitely is somewhat of a cultural thing (I know it's totally the norm in Hawaii) but here in the Midwest, it really isn't very common to be asked to take your shoes off.
That being said, we DO have a no-shoe policy in our house AT ALL TIMES for all those living there, including close family and friends that come over a lot. Any random guests that come over I don't generally ask them to take off their shoes unless they would like to enter our living. We have a huge white, shag rug in that room that was very expensive and, obviously, would be difficult to clean. I'm extremely protective
of that rug as I love it and don't want it to start looking shabby! I've found that it really does make a huge difference in the amount of dirt that is brought in the house.
I'll never forget when my 7 year old was a baby and crawling. We were at my MIL's house and she is neat and tidy and all and the carpet in her kitchen, right inside the entryway looked very clean (it was that flat indoor, outdoor stuff). After we got home, I noticed Ellie's knees and feet of her jammies were BLACK. It was totally from that carpet and people walking all over it for years in their shoes!
I say, it's your house, so your rules go!
We do the no shoes thing, but I think it's in part of being in Hawaii. I know growing up on the mainland if you went over to someone's house you kept your shoes on unless noted otherwise. I thought it was kinda weird when I moved here (HI) that everyone took their shoes off at the door, but I don't mind it now.
I also don't think it's rude to ask someone to take their shoes off. House rules ya know?
We plan on moving back to the mainland, so MH bought a ceramic tile that says "Please take off your slippers. Mahalo" (or something like that) to put near the front door. He said he wanted our house to have some sort of Hawaii feel, so people will need to take their shoes off.
I want one of these! Off to check Etsy...
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Because your bare feet are dirtier than the bottom of your shoes???? WTF.
We found ours at Borders down here in HI. I doubt they have it on their website. Anyway, it's similar to this one.
Found our tile! This is it.
I think to each his own in his own house... people have different concepts of "dirty," I guess.
We never wear shoes in the house, but again, that's probably the local and Asian influences.
Since I lived on the mainland for many years and went to lots of friends' families' houses for holidays and such, I just got used to scoping out the "shoe policy" before entering. I did whatever everyone else did and never really felt weird about it. If ever our shoes were really dirty from dirt or snow, we always removed them. And actually, in cold climates, I really liked keeping my shoes on, since it meant my feet stayed warmer!
hi hi hi
so we don't wear shoes in the house either. i think it's a cultural thing for us too.
we also have extra house slippers for guests that we bought from daiso so that if people don't want to be barefoot, they can wear slippers. the slippers are on our shoe rack as well.
that being said, part of my job consists of inspecting homes. and i'm absolutely irritated when the homeowners request that we take off our shoes and their carpet is filthy. and when i'm talking about filthy, i don't mean it needs a vacuuming or shampoo. i mean, the pets have urinated all over the carpets, there are stains, it's still wet, etc.
if you are going to ask me to take off my shoes, then please don't have danger zones. hahahah
when i'm on home inspections, i now use shoe covers over my shoes. it's to protect MY shoes from their carpet! HAHAHA
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This just doesn't make sense. I wouldn't want to walk barefoot in that either. Yuck. People actually live like that?
I definitely think this is a cultural/regional thing.
We don't remove our shoes, and the only people I know who insist that you remove your shoes are my super neurotic aunt and uncle, who have pristine white carpet (and clearly no kids or pets lol) and are freaked out about dirt getting on it.
Where I grew up, it would make people feel stressed and kind of imply that they were dirty people to ask them to remove their shoes (I know, I know, it's the shoes, but people read into things lol).
Personally, I feel awkward and less relaxed if I have to remove my shoes - at least, if they're the kind of shoes that require that I wear socks with them, since then I get all needlessly worried about smelly feet lol. If I'm in sandals it's not such a big deal, but I wear enclosed shoes here most of the time. So we don't ask people to do it in our house because I'd rather vacuum/mop/whatever than potentially make people feel uncomfortable.
That said, I would be absolutely fine both with doing it and asking others to do it if I was in Hawaii, because it's accepted and expected there. Just not here. Make sense?
ETA: I should add that if your shoes are really dirty/muddy/wet, everyone I know does leave them by the front door. Just not if they're normal, walking-around-at-the-office dirty.
It's totally a Hawaii vs Mainlaind thing! In Hawaii, always take off. In DC, not so much. I think cuz it's colder here...
In our home, I tend to walk around in socks or "house shoes" to keep my feet warm and in case I go to the basement laundry room which has cement floor or into the kitchen, which has tile. In the summer, I tend to wear my slippers around, but I should take them off too...
DH and I have generally made the 2nd floor no-shoes (need to be more militant about it tho!) and eventually the whole house that way because when Alexa starts crawling, I don't want her on dirty carpet or floors!
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Hey! I'm not your aunt!
J and I were raised in shoes-off homes, but as PP said about the midwest, I've noticed that most of the people I know here (in Ohio) don't have this rule.
We bought a small hanging sign for the entryway that says "remove shoes please". It's black letters on a white tile, not very noticeable. If people see it and take their shoes off, that's great. If they're uncomfortable with it, they can pretend they didn't see the sign and I just let it slide.
But, we're in an apartment now so the carpet isn't our problem in the long run. When we have a house I'll be more insistent about the shoes.
Because your bare feet are dirtier than the bottom of your shoes???? WTF.
Honestly I think it was because of the color of my skin, my brother is fairer than me and he could walk around her house barfooted....oh well, only visited her once and never saw her again:)
We have a sign outside our front door (that we got from a lovely ABC store) that says "Take your shoes off before you come in, but no take betta ones when you leave!" Everyone sees it and starts taking off their shoes while they are still knocking. If someone didn't, I would be fine with it because maybe they have stinky feet?
Our carpet cleaner guy says that we should wear socks or designated house shoes while in the house because the oils from our feet get on the carpet and attract/ lock in dirt (or lotions get on the carpet too).
Most all of our friends and family take off their shoes before they enter their homes too. Esp now we have on LO on the way, I'm so glad that we do this!
LOL and thank god for that!
We have a shoes off policy at home too. It's enough to keep up with the tracks of our furbabies, let alone people!
I don't think it's rude to ask people to take their shoes off...it's your house, your rules!
We have a basket of flip-flops and slippers that guests can use if they don't want to walk around in their socks or barefeet. Never had a problem.
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We got ours from here:
http://bananapatchstudio.com/6tiles.htm
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Ditto. ?It's so automatic for me to remove my shoes when I enter a home, on the mainland it's weird to me when others don't.?