Shoes on around the house

I don’t understand the pet thing either to be honest. Your dog goes outside in all weathers to pee and poo and walks straight back in having tread on God knows what and cats are in a litter box burying their shit with their paws. Make that make sense.

Yeah nothing wrong with shit all over your floors and dirt on your clothes, because unless you do this, you won’t have a good immune system.

Honestly, the lengths people will go to so they can justify poor hygiene.

Those kind of ' disgusting and gross' people also tënd to have great immune systems.

What about dogs, do they have to wear shoes?

Although in saying that if I was told in advance I would have no problem bringing slippers or something suitable.

I don’t know if it’s an Irish thing or not but I gave honestly never been asked. I would hate it if I was though. Especially in summer if I wasn’t wearing socks. I would avoid visiting in that case.

Shoes on in the house is disgusting and unhygienic. To walk around around outdoors, picking up all sorts on your shoes, and then walk into your home and spread it around, especially on carpets, but even on hard floors is gross.

Cue the weirdos who will come along and say ‘but I don’t lick my floors’. As though that’s the standard by which you measure hygiene.

It’s similar to people who will sit on or get in bed with their outdoor clothes. After having sat on public transport or seating in public areas. Those surfaces are absolutely gross. A vast number of people have terrible hygiene standards and sit on and use the same seating and spaces. How can you share the same seating and spaces and then not get changed before going sitting on what is supposed to be the most hygienic space where you place your face and sleep in - your bed.

Everybody who is likely to visit us already knows that my wife is Japanese, and shoes on in the house are unthinkable for her. For me it would be staggeringly rude to wear shoes into someone's home knowing that they would prefer you not to.

I remember being in primary school in the 90s and the teacher reading us a story with a message about cultural differences. In it, the English girl was shocked that she had to take her shoes off at her Indian friend’s house. Everyone in my class was confused as to why she was so shocked. This was a very multicultural school with a large black population. It’s interesting how that story would have been perceived differently in another part of the country.

I grew up in a house where everyone kept their shoes on indoors; in fact, it never occurred to me to do otherwise until I was much older and had a place of my own.

I have changed my views completely over time. I keep a very clean house and have brand new carpets. There's only me these days and certainly no dogs. I can't think of anything worse than walking around indoors with all the grit, germs and crap residue from outdoors on my shoes. Urgh! It's shoes off at the door, and my friends, family and neighbours know that when they come over. They usually bring slippers with them.

During the time I lived in Scandinavia, shoes off was very much the norm. In Iceland it's shoes off even for school children in school (they take slippers with them) and in public buildings such as a visit to the swimming baths or library etc. Shoes are left in pigeon holes by the entrance and if you haven't brought your own slippers/indoor footwear, you use a set of indoor "clogs" which are provided.

If you go as far north as Svalbard (unlikely for most people, I know!) EVERYONE takes footwear off at every building. So even in a coffee bar or small pub (a few do exist in Longyearbyen) all the boots are left at the door, everyone is sitting around in thick socks while chatting over a pint.

In my experience, it's the more northern, colder countries where this becomes the norm because leaving shoes on would bring in too much snow, ice and outdoor grit. However, if you live with it for long enough and then come back to the UK, it seems odd that anyone would want to bring outdoor dirt inside a house.

Surely not? You would refuse entrance to your home to, for example, an elderly person who struggles to remove their shoes?

That can’t be true.

OP yes people have strong feelings and MN is full of people whose loved ones are for some reason routinely dragging dog shit through their homes.

We have floorboards, usually don’t wear shoes at home, have zero rules about it and would never dream of being so staggeringly rude as to deny a guest entrance to our home over their preference for footwear.

I'm like your SIL. I'm not tidy and my house is not super clean, but I do the best I can to keep the dirt out. I'm old, I have chronic health issues and I don't have the energy to constantly clean all the floors, so I do what I can to decrease filth and taking off shoes is an easy thing to do.

Shoes off here. If people don't like it, they stay outside.

Everybody else's house, I go with the host's preference.

I have a couple neighbors who are like that. When I told them no one wears shoes in my house, you would have thought I said that I force people to strip naked.

I take my shoes off out of comfort, and often bring slippers with me when visiting others.
But I'm very relaxed about people in my house and let guests keep their shoes on. I'd much rather not have to feel everything needs to be spotless and not have to provide slippers of all shapes and sizes as we have a small house with enough shoes spilling out as it is.

It tend to find that these are first world problems and people who get worked up about it should just be grateful they don't have any real problems in their lives.

Shoes off house here, with the exception of tradespeople. I immediately clean the floors when someone leaves after coming inside with shoes.

If a tv show character has their shoes on when they're lying on a bed or couch, that's all I can focus on.

I can honestly say in all my years on this earth I have thankfully never been asked to remove my shoes in any house I have been in. Ever.

My parents have a shoes on house and it's so not relaxing. It's less about hygiene etc and more about differentiating between outdoor activity and relaxed at home for me. Indoors is slippers and cosy socks, outdoors is walking shoes and protecting feet from elements.

Shoes off for the whole of my country back home, the very thought of wearing outside shoes inside is utterly bizarre and disgusting.having moved to the UK several decades I’ve found any house guests don’t even ask what to do, they just see the shoes in the entrance and take them off politely.

I know people feel strongly about it. Personally, I don’t give a shit. On, off, couldn’t care less. The dogs are all over the house and don’t clean their feet…

The thought of shoes in the house really grosses me out! Shoes off at the front door!

I'm not a shoes of person, but my SIL is and it irritates me, because she's not a tidy person in any other way. She leaves junk around their house, but is obsessed with shoes off from the doorstep.

If you live in a country cottage, it makes more sense to wear shoes as you are more likely to be in and out of your cellar, pantry, garage, garden, shed etc.

We all have crocs on the shoe rack in the hall for nipping out to the garden/outbuildings.

Always shoes off here. We've got carpet in our living room and we live rurally, so often there is a bit of mud. But if people don't offer we never ask. If mud gets in I'll get the carpet cleaner out when they leave. we only have carpet in one room and we're probably putting oak floor down soon anyway to match the rest.