AIBU not to remove shoes in the home

[Illtellyouwhatswhat10]

Generally we don't ask guests to remove their shoes, and my SIL said she doesn't either. We both agreed that when you go to the trouble to put on a nice outfit, it's ruined when you have to take off your footwear. SIL added that as we both have tiled/wooden floors in downstairs room why would you ask guests to, anyway?

And another thing, it's often not nice to be barefoot in someone else's home (at least in your own place you have your own slippers) and I'm aware that some people may feel conscious about smelly feet/odd unsightly feet/verrucas. Even if hosts provide slippers, would you want to wear something that's been worn by someone else?

I prefer houses where shoes off isn't the norm, because once the shoes come off my feet want to go on the furniture. I am a terrible human being.

We have a dog, frankly shoe dirt is small fry in comparison. She is only allowed downstairs though.

We do have carpet upstairs but it is old and manky so I don't bother shoes off, unless they are particularly dirty wellies or walkers.

These days shoes that have been in the car or in town e.g. shops aren't that dirty. I have a foot condition which means my feet are more comfortable in supported slippers or shoes so my prefrence is light shoes or slippers. Just change grubby ones, and check feet before coming in.

oh yes - but I do go with whatever the house etiquette is and have been known to take my own slippers where its a shoes off sort of place.

Prioritising floors over guests is crass
This sums up perfectly how I feel about being asked to take my shoes off when visiting people

I make all guests remove their trousers/shorts/skirts before entering my house. I have pairs of trackie bottoms by the door that they are free to use if they wish. Wearing trousers/shorts/skirts in the house that have touched public transport seats is DISGUSTING. Think of all the germs on the average tube seat!!! And then you expect to sit on my sofa in those same clothes? My kids sit on that sofa!!!

I would always offer to take my shoes off in someone else's house but I put mine on in my own home.....because I have plantar fasciitis and need support all the time to prevent awful pain.

If I go to a friend's house, who I know has a no shoes rule, if it's summer and I'm not wearing socks, I just pop a pair in my bag and put them on.

It's terrible to ask people to take their shoes off. It's like asking them to get undressed. Some people are really embarrassed about their feet. What an awful thing to do when your invite guests into your home, you are belittling them. Some people haveminor disabilities on their toes that they want to keep private. Asking them to put on slippers is also ridiculous and embarrassing.

It's just all too Hyancynth Bucket for me. Next thing you know they'll be keeping the plastic wrap on the sofa.

This thread has been a real eye-opener! People who offer guests a selection of brand new slippers at the door, people who are so ashamed of their feet that they can't bear to be seen shoeless... I didn't realise there were so many people who felt so strongly either way!

My DD crawls and plays on the floor so definitely shoes off in our house, although if someone felt really uncomfortable about it I wouldn't become all militant, but have never had this happen! I always take my shoes off in other people's houses because I think it's good manners.

I assume none of the shoe removers have cats or dogs - or do they have to disinfect their feet on the way in?

But my DC also played and crawled on the floor in a shoes on house. They're absolutely fine. What do you think is going to happen?
How do you cope on the beach when they're eating sand or the park when they're crawling on the grass?

We are a shoes off house, ever since the midwife walked dog mess across my new carpet.
I don't care if the social climbers think it is 'crass' or 'net curtains'.

We have pets but it's a drop in the ocean to guests bringing mud and dog mess in.

I don't care if the social climbers think it is 'crass' or 'net curtains'.

Nothing to do with being a social climber at all, it's just manners imo

This just didn't exist when I was a kid in England. I remember being 14 and visiting family in Canada and being mortified when they all looked pointedly at my stinky converse and were horrified that I'd got all the way to the kitchen in them!
We're a shoes off at the door family but guests can keep theirs on if they want to. We have a downstairs bathroom available and carpets are only upstairs. I throw a mop around every day so no biggie if a bit of invisible germ is traipsed in although I would feel differently if I had carpets downstairs.
I always offer if I'm visiting others though, but there should always be an exception to the rule i.e. The Scholl wearing elderly aunt, my DF with dressings carefully arranged for his shoe to keep in place, pregnant people with enormous feet that would take 3 men to squash their foot back into a shoe once it had been removed after 4pm....

Oh it definitely is, hence you wouldn't have the sneery Hyacinth comments.
We live in a very rural area, my family have farms, we never wore boots/shoes in the house as it would bring muck in.

My kids play on the floor at the park, at the playground, at school, and sometimes even in other public places if they're bored enough.

Some people are so phobic about germs it's unbelievable.

What do you shoes off people do if a visitor says, "I'd rather not."

I would never ask a visitor to take theirs off but most do.
My issue isn't about germs at all, it's about mess and damage.

'We have pets but it's a drop in the ocean to guests bringing mud and dog mess '

That's what you tell yourself but I would be baffled by anyone who was a shoes off evangelist yet was happy to allow their cat to rub its furry undercarriage on the kitchen worktop, or the dog to rest his doggy bollocks on the armchair.

Yep, as I said, it's not about germs.

We live in a very rural area, my family have farms, we never wore boots/shoes in the house as it would bring muck in.

I made the Hyacinth comment and as I said in my first post, in your situation taking shoes off at the door is obviously the right thing to do.

My Sil used to be chilled about it (also chilled myself) and my nephew and niece would rampage all over my house with shoes on. I went to hers recently with my own dd (hers have now left home) and it was like Checkpoint Fecking Charlie. We weren't allowed in without her screeching at us to remove our shoes. Yes, it was a screech.
Don't mind it, don't insist on it for downstairs- our house is too small. Always respect others wishes but could do without the screeching.