To want guests to remove their shoes when walking through my house?

[MummyLizH]

Not sure if I'm particularly bothered by this because it's mainly the in-laws who do it, but most people know I expect shoes off as you walk through the front door.

I've mentioned it to dh a few times, I think he thinks I'm just picking at his parents behaviour, but it makes my blood boil... I clean and hoover my home, invite you round and you tread your dirty shoes all over the floor which me and my kids sit and play on (and my little girl crawls around on) . My parents have the decency to bring their slippers!

Treacle - Out of curiosity- I'm just wondering why your parents thinking taking shoes off in someone else's house is rude? I can't think of any possible reason why taking shoes off in someone's house would be rude.

This has been done quite a few times before and I was surprised by how many people said they wear shoes indoors.

I wasn't too bothered but now I have two small children I ask people to remove shoes / wear shoe protectors in my home. Probably precious but don't really care. My home!

Shoes off here. I don't want spit, dog mess and grime walked into my house.

sladurche I suppose for the same reasons as you - they can't think of a single time when it wouldn't be rude to take your shoes off in someone else's house. It's what they were taught to be good manners.

I suppose they view socks as underwear? It would be no more acceptable to them for someone to come into their house and remove their shoes than it would to remove their trousers and sit in their underwear. I've never seen my parents wear slippers around the house, it has always been get up, get dressed, put on shoes. I wasn't allowed to run around in bare feet or slippers as a child either.

Generally speaking feet in socks are smellier than feet in shoes - the shoes sort of contain the smell. Bare feet can be much worse.
So pulling your shoes off can be seen as rude if people haven't asked you too. There's also the sense of making yourself a bit too much at home in someone else's house.

We don't have shoes on in the house and we also request that others don't wear them indoors either. There are reasons for this:
A) we have a new baby that in a few months will be able to crawl & id rather he wasn't picking any bits of dirt off the floor or getting them all over his hands
B) we RENT! We need to keep the carpets as clean as possible as this is only a year let. If these carpets don't stay in the best condition, it comes off our deposit at the end of the tenancy.

I don't feel like it's rude to ask, the only people I want round my house anyway are the people who care about our home enough to respect our decision and not feel put out by it. Nobody seems to mind at all.

Yanbu! I'm Scandinavian, and generally in that culture it is considered very rude to wear shoes in doors. I get very annoyed when people do - but most have the sense to either ask, or just take them off when they see we don't have shoes on. My mother in law never takes hers off though, it annoys me!! But I'm not brave enough to mention it (we get along really well so I don't want to do anything to ruin that)

I dont retur n to a house where the resident puts their soft furnishings above the comfort of their guests. White carpets are ridiculous.
You can buy plastic shoe covers - some workmen use them to come into a house. This might be the answer where babies crawl. otherwise - that's what vacuum cleaners and mops are for. And we all need access to some bacteria. Dog mess - ugh! that is diffeent.