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AIBU?

Share your dilemmas and get honest opinions from other Mumsnetters.

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Original poster

Shoes off house rule

840 replies

BettyBi0 · 02/03/2016 16:11

So we have a shoes off rule in our house. Mainly because of the grubby London streets and dog poo everywhere locally plus a floor licking toddler.

Every time my parents visit I have to ask them to take their shoes off. EVERY Fing TIME! They act like its such a massive imposition.

AIBU or would you just shut up and put up?

OP posts:

Balletgirlmum · 03/03/2016 12:30

People really have indoor shoes for the office!
Guess they must be able to afford multiple pairs?

Pyjamaramadrama · 03/03/2016 12:34

Jessie yes I do think that the floor in offices are filthy. If you swabbed them I bet there'd be all sorts.

But I wouldn't put my kids on the office floor to play.

YoungGirlGrowingOld · 03/03/2016 12:37

I just counted 3 pairs under my desk so I think that makes me an all round indoor shoe gal

ChazsBrilliantAttitude · 03/03/2016 12:40

A lot of the women where I work change their shoes when they get into the office. Often they wear flat shoes or trainers for commuting and change into heels in the office. I wouldn't like to negotiate the tube in high heels. Most women have 12 a couple of pairs of shoes under their desk. The indoor shoes last for ages because they are very rarely worn outside. A fair number of blokes also change from trainers to office shoes.

Osquito · 03/03/2016 12:44

I grew up in SE Asia so you always took shoes off before entering someone's house... Moving to the UK with wall to wall carpeting and seeing everyone go all over it in outdoor shoes still grosses me out 5 years on! When I visit other people's homes I always ask. Personally I try* to keep the house a "shoes off" zone for my family, but don't insist on it for guests. Some notice and remove theirs (THANK YOU!) while others don't. In such cases I simply smile and feel my blood pressure climb with each. fucking. step. they. take.

*My DP grew up here and doesn't feel as strongly as I do, but I simply await the day he will have to clean dogshit out of the carpet. We've just moved and our previous house had wood floors so the couple times it occurred a simple hot mop and disinfectant fixed things.

descalina · 03/03/2016 12:44

Jessie the carpet in my office is pretty manky compared to my one at home.

At home I'd happily sit on the floor without worrying about my clothes, I wouldn't in my office.

JessieMcJessie · 03/03/2016 12:45

I also keep my heels under the desk and commute in flats/ trainers. But I walk through the corridors to and from my desk every day in my outdoor shoes, and also keep the heels on if I leave the building for a lunch or a meeting. Currently I am wearing smart flat knee high boots that are comfortable enough for the commute so don't change.

Most men don't change shoes and I'd say only 50% of women do. Even then it's often to do with matching an outfit rather than those being "inside shoes" which are never worn outside.

JessieMcJessie · 03/03/2016 12:46

And I specifically asked whether you believe your office carpet has shot on it, not whether it is dirtier than your living room carpet.

JessieMcJessie · 03/03/2016 12:46

Shit not shot. Spellcheck is also profanity check!

EastMidsMummy · 03/03/2016 12:47

Yes, it's very Hyacinth Bouquet to insist on "shoes off". On the other hand, it's very rude to walk dogshit in a house.

Solution: get a doormat. Use the doormat.

Natsku · 03/03/2016 12:50

People really have indoor shoes for the office!
Guess they must be able to afford multiple pairs?

Apparently so, don't most people have more than one pair of shoes? Crocs seem to be the thing for office wear here, apparently no one cares how ugly they are because they're so comfy and easy to slip on and off. Health centres too, all the doctors and nurses wear crocs, never seen one without them!

mercifulTehlu · 03/03/2016 12:54

Why wear uncomfortable shoes at work at all? You wouldn't catch men doing that - which is presumably why they have no need to change shoes.

ZedWoman · 03/03/2016 12:55

Yes, the lab floor has had dog shit on it. Last year a student trod in a huge turd before coming into school. He realised in the lab, and decided to try to remove it by scraping his foot along the corner of the lab bench and on the foot bar of his stool. His teacher noticed and made him stay in at break to clean it all off.

As others have said, I would never sit on an office/restaurant/shop/classroom floor. I do, however, often sit on my living room carpet.

MitzyLeFrouf · 03/03/2016 12:57

I'm happy to sit on most floors tbh.

Pyjamaramadrama · 03/03/2016 13:02

What about bird shit everywhere too? What about piss on the floor in public toilets? You're walking that into your home.

People who think shoes off is stupid? Do you just not believe that there are germs and toxins on your shoes? Or do you just think a few germs didn't hurt anyone or what?

JessieMcJessie · 03/03/2016 13:03

Stop talking about sitting on office floors! I never asked about that.

If I believed a floor had invisible shit on it I would not want to sit on a chair on that floor, never mind on the floor itself. But I don't believe outdoor shoes carry shit as a matter of course. I are a sandwich I had dropped on my office floor the other day. I suffered no ill effects whatsoever.

MitzyLeFrouf · 03/03/2016 13:03

Meh.

MitzyLeFrouf · 03/03/2016 13:03

I wasn't 'meh'ing at you Jessie

scrumptiouscrumpets · 03/03/2016 13:06

Yanbu, I hate it when people don't take their shoes off... And I find it even more disgusting when people walk barefoot round their flat when they usually don't take their shoes off. That's like a watered down version of walking around barefoot outside. Yuck.

MitzyLeFrouf · 03/03/2016 13:09

Dearie me. Stop spying on other people in their homes then hopefully you'll feel less disgusted

DIYandEatCake · 03/03/2016 13:09

My in-laws wear their shoes indoors - one time they visited us, one of them trod in fox poo on the pavement outside, and trod it all the way through our (carpeted) house. It took hours to clean it all up, and still the smell lingered for weeks and repeated cleaning. Since then I've politely asked them to take their shoes off, and they're OK with it, though I suspect they think I'm a bit precious. I grew up with a shoes-off rule and take my shoes off without thinking in anyone's house, it's not much effort to take them off!

Natsku · 03/03/2016 13:10

I'm not germaphobic, I didn't even bat an eyelid when my DD licked the supermarket floor when she was a toddler, but I still don't want shoes on in my house because its not germs, its dirt, visible dirt which means I have to get the mop out and I'm loathe to do that more than once a week. I don't particularly enjoy walking in melting slush or gravel when I'm wearing socks or barefoot.

If its summer and someone just wants to run in and use the loo then I'm not bothered as summer doesn't bring in so much crap as the other 10 months of the year.

OH has been working in the sewage works today (or poo factory as he likes to call it), you bet he has to take his boots off and all his work clothes before he even gets in the hallway!

MitzyLeFrouf · 03/03/2016 13:11

'and take my shoes off without thinking in anyone's house'

You see you probably think you're being a lovely guest by doing that for me I'd be thinking 'how rude she is, taking her shoes off without asking if I mind'.

Bonxie · 03/03/2016 13:12

I wouldn't even think of asking people to remove shoes in the countryside as I don't think of mud etc as being unhygienic, but in London I do think about it due to pollution, which I'm more bothered about, and the blobs of phlegm so often seen on the pavement. Really it's the phlegm. I've never asked anyone to, just remove my own, but I'm aware of it so wouldn't mind being asked at all.

spanky2 · 03/03/2016 13:16

Oh this infuriates me. I'm shoes off. My parents would walk into the sitting room, over to the sofa, crossing on to the rug to take their shoes off. The laminate I could clean easily, but not the rug.

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