Removing shoes before entering your home?

[Lovely2CU]

I was watching a recent documentary where an American crime scene cleaner asked the interviewer, from the UK, to remove his shoes when entering his home. He did as he was asked, but I've never encountered or heard of anyone, especially strangers, being asked to remove their shoes before.

I appreciate its a custom in some countries, like Japan, and I do believe Hawaii has this custom too.

So, do you ask people to remove their shoes in your home? And is the reason not to get dirt on the floors and bring germs in? Or something else?

 

[NMAmy]

I don't ask people to remove their shoes but in Michigan, particularly in the wintertime, most people do. It stops salt and mud from being tracked in. We do not wear shoes in our home and I always remove them when visiting someone else.

I can always tell when dd has friends over because there is a big pile of shoes right inside the front door.

ETA: This will be good--these threads tend to get very heated, surprisingly.

 

[SaraJayne]

We also get the big pile of shoes right inside the front door when friends come over.

No, I don't ask ~ people just take them off out of courtesy. Especially in the winter, to prevent tracking of salt/sand and wet into the house.

 

[binny]

we dont ask but we remove our shoes in our house.

 

[Angelhalo]

I don't ask and I get irked when others do. We went to an estate sale recently and they asked that people take their shoes off before coming in to look through the items in the house. So we left.

 

[SaraJayne]

I don't ask and I get irked when others do. We went to an estate sale recently and they asked that people take their shoes off before coming in to look through the items in the house. So we left.

Seriously??

 

[Angelhalo]

Seriously??

Yes. Seriously. My husband's feet are not attractive and sometimes I just don't feel like taking my shoes off. I'll do it at a friend's house if they ask, but I won't be happy about it. Especially if DH doesn't have socks on because he is VERY self concious about his feet and ends up spending the whole evening feeling paranoid and self concious trying to hide his feet. Its irritating.

 

[Cosmo.Kramer]

We don't wear shoes ever when we're in the house, but we won't ask people to remove their shoes either. Saying that, we have wooden flooring throughout the house.

 

[Mom2Nick]

I am very uncomfortable not wearing shoes. I have completely flat feet and need to wear comfortable shoes so my feet are not killing me at the end of the day. I do not go barefoot in my home and would be very uncomfortable if I had to take my shoes off in somebody else's home. I woudl never ask people to remove their shoes.

 

[HM]

Some people immediately take shoes off when they come in the house (all my kid's friends do). But we've never asked anyone too. We do have friends that do ask though, and I have no problem with it. I kind of wish I'd started us doing it at our house, it would have kept the carpets in our new house a lot cleaner, a lot longer.

 

[luvmy3]

We do not wear our shoes in our home but we do not ask guest to remove them.
When I go to someone's home I always ask if the want me to remove my shoes, if they say yes and I don't mind at all.

 

[lspst8]

I don't wear shoes in my house, but I don't ask people to remove theirs. When it is rainy or snowy out, most people take them off without me saying a word.

My mom wears shoes at all times and has a pair of sneakers that are her dedicated "inside shoes." She changes into them as soon as she gets home from work and doesn't take them off until she puts her PJs on at night.

While I would always take my shoes off at someone's home if they were muddy or wet, I don't really like when people direct me to take them off. I really don't want to walk around other people's home barefoot.

 

[DisLaw]

This is a hot topic in my home!

For the most part we do ask kids to remove their shoes when they come in. We have new hardwood floors that tend to scratch easily and the kids always seem to track in gravel and little pebbles in their sneakers that have caused more than one pretty good scratch in my floors. Therefore, my "rule" is shoes off for kids at least. I have to say that I rarely have to ask the kids as they usually just do it automatically after seeing the pile of shoes in the mudroom from my own kids and us!

My problem is with adults. I would never "ask" another adult to remove their shoes! However, in the winter time especially most of our friends and family take theirs off on their own. Heck, my mom travels with a pair of slippers she puts on when she comes over! I even started leaving some extra slippers by the door for people to use especially in the cold weather.

No matter how careful I am with my floors I just feel uncomfortable asking another adult to take off their shoes. I do notice that many people who have never been in my house will ask when the come in for the first time if I would like them to take off their shoes (after they comment on my gleaming floors!).

 

[EthansMom]

We have hardwood floors. Dust and dirt that gets tracked in can really scratch the floors up... and requires more frequent vacuuming and mopping. Additionally, my kids both have asthma so we try to keep the dust/dirt down in the house. So, as a general (though not emphatic) rule, we take our shoes off when entering our home.

Though I don't ask/require that guests do the same, most remove their shoes when they see ours laying in the entryway.

In my experience, it's far more common to see people remove their shoes when entering a home in the NE than in other parts of the U.S.

 

[olena]

We don't ask guests to remove their shoes, but we do it ourselves. It's just easy and we know where our shoes are. It also helps cut down on tracking in dirt and debris from outside.

I do ask guests that are staying a while that remove their shoes to place them by the door to keep my walkways clear. That goes for luggage, bags and anything. I don't see very well and I am not a fan of tripping in my own home, where I am accustomed to moving around easily.

 

[MichelleVW]

I voted no because we live in Texas and have concrete floors, but when we lived in Alaska it was common for people to take off their shoes when they went into someone's house.

 

[Jennasis]

We do not wear shoesin my house and always ask others to remove theirs when entering. We live on a farm and you simply cannot walk from the driveway to our front door without tracking in mud of some kind.

Shoes off please!

 

[Feralpeg]

I don't ask people to remove their shoes. We always were them in the house. DD tends to wear flip flops, so it is easy for her to kick them off and on. I HATE going barefoot. It makes my feet feel dirty and itchy. If I'm not wearing shoes, I at least have on slippers.

 

[monkey68]

We always take our shoes off soon as we get home. Helps keep the carpet clean. We don't care what other people do, we offer it to them that if they want they can take their shoes off. Most people do. We also have a lot of extra slippers in various sizes if anyone wants.

 

[PghLybrt]

I was raised that it was the polite thing to do. I always ask when I am in someone else's house. I do not ask it of my guests but would like if they did (and most do).