Are you a 'shoes on' or a 'shoes off' household?

[chocolatesaltyballs22]

We are strictly shoes off. We walk around in bare feet and I hate the thought of walking in outside dirt all over the house. MIL is coming to stay this weekend. She hates having to take her shoes off and there's this alwau this awkward moment at the front door when I ask her to take her shoes off (even though everyone else is doing so, so she should really just follow suit). She believes that floors should be hoovered/mopped every day anyway so why does it matter.....oh if only I had the time to clean every day - my cleaner does it once a week and that's it!

So I was just wondering if I was a bit OCD or if this is the norm?

[TheFaerieQueene]

I wear indoor shoes/slippers at home but would never asked guests to take off shoes. We have stone and wood floors throughout so it really doesn’t matter - add a dog to the mix and I would be v unreasonable and not very hospitable to ask for shoes off. I wash the floors v v regularly too as we are in the country and the dog is a mud magnet.
I don’t understand the British love of carpets which I am assuming is the reason for the shoes off debate. Nasty dusty dirty things.

[TabbyMumz]

"@TabbyMumzno I expect people to wear socks, always, because bare feet are grim"

Not in the Summer though surely? Generally in the summer I just wear work shoes (no socks) and slip on shoes at the weekend like loafers/ sketchers. If I had bad feet I'd be really embarrassed having to walk in bare feet.

[Whiteroverbaby]

Yes I let my DS crawl on grass but I didn't let him crawl on a public toilet floor where the bottom of people shoes have been, as Well as a whole lot of other germs. I don't know what 'class' has to do with taking shoes off, it's a hygiene issue surly !

[BuzzShitbagBobbly]

Shoes on. Wouldn't dream of asking anyone to take their shoes off. People know if their shoes are muddy etc so then they take them off but otherwise they stay on.

This - I take my shoes off when I get changed upstairs. My visitors are all capable enough to understand and I don't recall the last time anyone (to use the oft-quoted MN trope) trampled dog shit through my house so it must work.

That said, I find it unsettling for the residents of the house to walk about with shoes on if they haven't been out/aren't going anywhere, but that's just a me thing!

[Sittinonthefloor]

Giveher - the shoes off lady was the wife of a work contact of dh’s, hadn’t previously met her.
I hate revealing my feet in public, if it was summer and I was sockless im not sure what I’d do if someone asked me to take my shoes off, I’d be so embarrassed!

[TildaKauskumholm]

Forgot to say, I grew up in a shoes in house and never gave it a single thought, but in my twenties moved to another country for work. I found the shoes off/rack of visitor 'slippers' rather nice and sensible. After 10 years there I continued it when I came back to the UK. And @GiveHerHellFromUs, while Crocs might not be to everyone's taste, they are at least washable and cover the feet from view

[isabellerossignol]

It's definitely shoes on for me today. I'm in my kitchen and my washing machine and tumble dryer are in the garage (detached, so can't get to it directly from the house), and so are my recycling boxes, the cat litter etc. And then my bin is obviously outside. It's pouring with rain so I can't go outside in slippers and I reckon I'll need to be in and out to the garage or bin about a dozen times in the next couple of hours; there's no way I'm taking off shoes and putting them back on that many times.

On a dry day I'd be in and out in my slippers...

[bloodywhitecat]

Shoes off as we live in the middle of the countryside, have chickens in the garden so our shoes are generally muddy in this family. I don't ask visitors to take their shoes off unless they go upstairs (but visiting family do kick them off at the door). I used to work in family homes looking after very unsell children and always carried indoor shoes to wear in their houses as we were not allowed to work in socks/bare feet for health and safety reasons.

[avocadotofu]

We too are shoes off, I hate it when people wear shoes inside.

[TabbyMumz]

"but I didn't let him crawl on a public toilet floor where the bottom of people shoes have been"
People dont generally walk straight from a public toilet to a living room though do they, they tend to gave done quite a few hundred steps in between. If you are that worried about toilet floors though, what about the people walking from their own toilet to their own living room? Doesnt that need to be taken into consideration, perhaps some sort of anti bacterial sheep dip type thing outside the bathroom door? Or separate shoes to wear in the bathroom, or even, tie a mop to your bum so as no germs at all get outside the bathroom?

[soulrunner]

Shoes off - live in Asia and we’re ( mostly) a shoes off continent! Partly it’s to do with greater incidence of apartment living and hard floors ( noise reduction). People just automatically do it.

[TheElfFellOffTheShelf]

Shoes off in our house. We do have door mats but no fucker ever used them despite me asking them to wipe their feet and would trample mud and all sorts into the house. The worst was when someone had trodden in dog muck and brought it in without realising. It took forever to clean up and my youngest was still crawling at that time 🤢 Since then we've insisted people take their shoes off when they come in (we never wore our own inside anyway because we find shoes uncomfortable so it was no great hardship for us). I don't mind people tucking their feet in underneath themselves when sitting on the settee if that's how they feel comfy but I'd hate for them to do that with their shoes on! When I go to other people's houses I always ask whether they'd rather I take my shoes off or keep them on and I'm not bothered either way.

[BernardsarenotalwaysSaints]

Off in the living room & upstairs. Fine to leave them on in the hall/kitchen.

[Hepsibar]

We are shoes off, but my parents generation are shoes on ... they think it very odd and weird and fussy and I dont bother to ask them. But I wonder if you might have some slippers your MiL could pop on or houseshoes?

Most people I know are shoes off with only a few who say Dont be silly, keep them on.

[gamerchick]

We're a shoes off in general but I don't ask visitors. All hard floors downstairs and we have a downstairs toilet. Nobodies allowed upstairs.

Get her some slippers maybe.

[AhNowTed]

I don't know anyone who asks for shoes off. Literally never been to a friends house or a house party where guests were expected to remove their shoes.

And I can't imagine being at a house party where everyone's dressed up but without shoes. All those carefully selected outfits demolished at the doorstep.

Some of my kids friends automatically take their shoes off so is it a relatively recent thing.

[Whiteroverbaby]

Tabbymumz that's a great idea you should suggest it to all the people who dont their shoes off

[PigletJohn]

off. If you have a persistent grumbling visitor, ask them to bring a pair of soft, clean, indoor slip-ons.

If you care enough, say you'll pay for them.

If they refuse, buy them a pair of hideous slippers with their name painted or embroidered on.

[PrincessHoneysuckle]

Off definitely

[FacesLookUgly]

We're a 'make yourself at home' household who don't mind what you do.

But then we have 3 dogs. Dirt is an everyday battle

[chocolatesaltyballs22]

Wow, lots of difference of opinions! My whole family is shoes off so I don't understand what the fuss is about. MIL hardly visits and it's clearly weird for her. But I remember her coming with FIL when we'd just done the house up, new cream carpets on the stairs, and we were showing them round when he started tramping up the steps in his dirty shoes. Personally I think you should respect the house rules.

Oh, and offended by jokey ref to OCD? Really?! You can't say anything on here without offending someone.

[JenniferM1989]

Shoes on. I wear my shoes in the house but when I'm in for the day or night I put my slippers on. I don't ask anyone to take their shoes off when they come in. I have a cat that goes outside and comes in with obviously dirty paws so it makes no sense. DS is 3 and not licking the floor and washes his hands before eating. We have all wooden flooring downstairs which I hoover daily and wash every other day

[MindyStClaire]

Well, OCD is a real medical condition that makes people's lives hell. It's not the same as liking things a bit clean and people using the term casually makes it harder for sufferers to be taken seriously.

Did your MIL actually walk dirt all over your carpet or did you just not like her wearing shoes? I wouldn't dream of making my (lovely, as most of them are) MIL uncomfortable in my home. Please understand that to her, you're being rude and unwelcoming.

[SquigglePigs]

Shoes off. I used to bite my lip if other people wore shoes into the house (although I always insisted they came off for going upstairs) but now we have a crawling baby I'm a lot firmer on it. Our friends and family don't mind and those that do mind a bit or get cold feet just bring slippers or indoor shoes to wear inside.

[chocolatesaltyballs22]

Yeah I do realise that @MindyStClaire and I didn't mean to offend anyone. It just seems that you can't make a light hearted comment on here without someone being offended. And surely there are degrees of OCD? My husband calls be OCD but I know I'm not really. I just like my house to be pristine.