No shoes in house people

[Newstartplease24]

if you are absolutist about this -

do you only entertain in loungewear? Have you nevwr had a dinner or a party at which people dressed up a bit, including shoes?

or do you expect people to wear frock, tights and bare feet?

I prefer no shoes, but I don't ask people to take their shoes off unless they have work boots or other dirty shoes on and are going upstairs. If people ask me if I would like them to I say yes please.

I take my shoes off if they’re dirty or I’ve been walking in London streets and run the risk of treading in spit/wee etc on the pavement.
I would also take them off if there were a crawling baby.
But if I were going to a party, I’d usually walk down my garden path ( no phlegm/poo), get into a car and then walk up someone else’s path and then brush my shoes on the doormat.
What dirt is there?
And yet people are fine with dogs going into food and clothing shops and cafes with potentially dirty bottoms. And those animals also sit on people’s floors /sofas.
But guests have to take off clean shoes.

We're a shoes-off house, but there are gradients of guests.

Downstairs is wooden flooring / rugs, so day or evening guests keep their shoes on.

The bedrooms upstairs are carpeted, but overnight guests tend to be family or close friends and know to take their shoes off. I provide slippers!

We have cream carpets workmen have plastic shoe covers - visitors take shoes off - we do not hold parties in our flat !

That's how we operate as well.

I mainly take my shoes off but do t ask guests to. We have mostly wooden floors and once we got a dog, all bets were off!

I’ve never had a dinner party where people wore heels, no. 😂 We live on a farm. You’d kill yourself getting across the yard in the rocks and mud before you’d ever get in the door in your heels. Hence, why no one wears shoes in the house.

I don’t even own anything that might qualify as ‘loungewear’ and I’m not sure anyone I know does. People wear jeans or smart trousers with a shirt or a casual dress or skirt. And then they just take off their shoes and wear socks or be barefoot. Same as we are around the house. 🤷🏻‍♀️

I used to live in a big city, not London, but similar size. I was no shoes indoors there too. I’d walk through piss and vomit on a regular basis. I literally used to nearly step on a used condom about once a month. The cafe toilets often used to just have discarded needles lying around. It’s gross. I wouldn’t have wanted any of that in my house. I don’t know anyone who wore shoes in their house. Grim.

Every guest I’ve ever had including in evening wear automatically kick off their shoes in the porch. I think it must be a regional thing because I’ve lived in se, sw and midlands and it’s automatic no shoes inside end of

@GETTINGLIKEMYMOTHER

interesting she considered it lower middle class. Definitely not the case here, and everyone takes shoes off, it’s automatic.

I have never asked anyone to take off shoes in the house and we don't take ours off straight away .
My 7 yr old has never vomited or had an antibiotic and my 10yo has had 2 antibiotics in their whole life and hasn't missed a day of school in 2 years. Myself and DH are never sick .
So basically we are so unhygienic we have made ourselves super immune!

I’ve never really considered the unsavoury stuff on people’s shoes. Working in an environment where bodily fluids ( blood and saliva) are a big part of our infection control risk we have solid floors throughout. Although they are mopped daily and if there is a significant spillage I have never considered the risk in a domestic environment.

I wouldn’t consider a dirty floor at home a risk. Maybe if I had a cut on my foot but even then I try not to put my feet in my mouth , fairly impossible nowadays, and tend to leave nail cutting and pedicure activities till after a shower or bath.

How we managed to survive, as a species, walking barefoot for 10s of thousands of years astonishes me. Well it doesn’t, we have a thick protective barrier of skin that protects us, a survival adaptation Also we need exposure to the nasties to develop a robust immune system. As long as floors are dry bacteria can’t really grow on them.

Most of the bacteria that pose the most risk to us actually live on our skin waiting patiently for an opportunity to enter our bodies via a scratch or an inflamed mucous membrane such as a sore throat. They pass from body to body most of the time or via touching surfaces with a hand. Door handles are probably your biggest risk in the home. Do you wear gloves or wipe them between each use. Probably not.

We are a shoes off house and most people automatically take their shoes off. I've never hosted a formal dinner party but would expect shoes to be on and I would wear slippers.

There was another thread where the majority of people don't wash their hands when they come in, even after using public transport. I always do this automatically as my hands feel quite grubby and sticky after strap hanging on the tube.

Funny that people take shoes off yet don't wash their hands and then touch soft furnishings, cups, food etc. Yet that handle on the tube will be impregnated with other people's sweat and potentially wee/fecal matter/snot etc

I don’t allow shoes in my house due to the crap and germs shoes carry. Dog shit from shoes in the house is grim, especially if you have children playing on the floor. Shoes can be worn in the garden then taken off when entering the guide, it’s not a big deal at all. Quite unhygienic to walk around the house in outside shoes 💩

I use hand wash after touching anything in public, people are grim when it comes to washing their hands. Many people don’t wash them after dying the toilet or before they eat

I haven’t had this issue in years, but yes, sometimes shoes are an integral part of the outfit. Then people usually put on the heels or whatever on arrival, very rarely going straight from a car to house. I can imagine my nieces’ generation will hit that point soon and I’d let them wear them. But the majority of people in my country are shoes off and we’re from a culture where it’s even more so. I suppose if someone really specifically asked to wear their shoes indoors I’d ask them to wipe well and say yes. Usually anyone who needs special footwear carries an indoor pair to put on and everyone else is bare or sock feet

If the floor isn’t clean we’ll sometimes take a few steps in with groceries, but generally not.

I have never been to a shoes on house.

I have never been to a large formal mansion party but I imagine people would wear some sort of footwear if they were in suits and long formal gowns.

Mine don’t! I wash my feet daily and wear comfortable shoes all day unless it is really hot, when I might have bare feet. My feet don’t get sore. And I don’t wear uncomfortable bras either.

I wipe my feet on a mat when I come in from outside. The only time I can see the point of worrying about dirty floors is if I’ve been walking in a muddy place/gardening/somewhere with lots of dog poo or if there are young children crawling around on the floor.

I don’t make my cat or dog wipe their paws when they come in (even though the cat may well have just been burying her poo in the flower bed).

Definitely but my parents are a bit crazy about dirt 😆 not saying it’s normal, but they weren’t really the only people to do that where I grew up!

Washing your hands as soon as you get inside, after you take your shoes off, is another thing ingrained in childhood in my country. I don't understand people who don't wash their hands when coming in from outside, its automatic for me.

I do home visits and we aren't allowed to take our shoes off in case of injury so I always take plastic shoe covers because some of our patients are very house proud.
Some of the houses on the other hand you want to wipe your feet on the way out.

@Natsku It just seems as if the majority here are Shoes OFF, yet on the other thread, the majority was definitely NEVER wash hands on coming home after being on public transport.

Would be interesting to do a Venn diagram 😉

A venn diagram would be interesting because to me it would naturally follow that shoes off also equals washing hands, because both are the cleaner thing to do. Someone that is shoes off but doesn't wash hands coming home does not make logical sense!

I am shoes off but not washing hands automatically when coming home! It's not really about cleanliness of shoes for me, it's just that shoes are outdoor things so I feel as weird wearing them indoors as I would a coat or a hat.

That's why I always take my shoes off in anyone's house but don't expect it or request it of others in mine. I find it odd when it's not automatic but I don't mind if people don't.

Why don't you wash your hands though?