To ask all guests to take shoes off in my house?

[chardonm]

Just that really. A few people seem really put off by that.

My dear sil has to be reminded several times before she takes them off.

I hate the thought of trailing the dirt inside the house.

No one comes in our house with shoes on and I’ve never had anyone hesitate to take them off either. My house, my rules, but anyone who isn’t comfortable can meet us out somewhere I don’t have to clean up after them.

It may be different though because we live rurally. You have to literally walk through mud and horse shit (not ours, we live on a bridle way) to get from the car to the front door so I think it’s pretty obvious you wouldn’t wear shoes in the house.

Very rude to ask. Anyone wearing muddy boots will remove them anyway. No need otherwise. No-one here has suffered any ill-effect from the wearing of shoes in the house

If I had carpets I would ask them to take them off, but I have polished wooden floor which gets mucky with the baby eating etc and it's cold if you don't have slippers or shoes in so I just mop regularly instead

Hope all those with hardwood polished floors asking people to take shoes off have good insurance. I'd totally slip and break something if I had to walk about on a polished floor in my socks! (Very clumsy)

My family are Swedish, and we always take our shoes off before going into our own home and the home of others. I wouldn't want dirt from outside being trailed inside my home. Guests always take their shoes off before entering our home and we do the same entering friends homes. It's not rude, it's actually the opposite in my opinion.

If going to someone's house for the first time I ask, if they themselves have no shoes on.

I'd never ask anyone to remove their shoes in my home. My guests should do what makes them comfortable, I'd rather clean afterwards than make someone uncomfortable in my home.

If someone said to me,, yes, take your shoes off, I'd do it without question, but I'd think they were a bit uptight and odd, unless that was their culture.

Our policy has always been no shoes upstairs/bedrooms which has carpets. Downstairs on wooden floors it depends on the shoes. Most people use a little common sense and take off muddy shoes!

YANBU, I always remove shoes at door but for guests it depends on circumstances: if guest has come in 'best' clothes for party, etc then I assume they are also wearing their 'best' shoes so they tend to be clean. But if they have called in wearing their everyday / mucky shoes I would ask them to remove. Also if it's bad weather I'd be more likely to ask, than if it's baking hot and guest has flip flops on. It's more about cleanliness, I don't want to clean up mud off the floor. If someone came to my house with a dirty, wet coat after a walk on I would hang it up for them, not let them sit on sofa and make it dirty, same with shoes and carpet.

Depends – if im just popping in and the room Im going into is hardwood flooring or vinyl I probably wont offer to take my shoes off. However, if it’s a long stay / walking over carpet I will take my shoes off. I think its just common decency as any dirt on carpet is a nightmare and I wouldn’t be too happy if someone dragged mud (or worse) onto my carpet, hardwood, not too bothered.

I strongly dislike shoes off I really do especially for rare visitors.

Even if I had a shoes or house which I don't I would have never forced my elderly parents to take care them off or visitors who come once a month.

One person in 14 years walked mud in and he was a prat and it was gone in moments. No one is ill here over the norm... We live... Happy and well and our floors look great.

I understand why people do it, but forcing elderly people with mobility issues (which I have witnessed) and becoming ott about it is utter madness and quite socially disgusting more so then people walking dirt in.

I think it's a modern thing.. People thinking it's the right thing to do. I think its a class thing at the end of the day.

When we had mud it wasn't what I would a nightmare

We were brought up to take our shoes off at the door, and I do see it as cleaner and more comfortable. If you're relaxing on the sofa and want to curl your leg under you, or put your feet up on a stool or something I wouldn't want shoes that have been walking in who-knows-what all over my furniture. My kids constantly end up with chewing gum/squashed up sweets/animal poo on their shoes, and I'm sure it makes it's way onto adult shoes too.

I actually find it quite difficult to feel relaxed indoors in shoes, it feels wrong, like I'm sitting about with my coat on, but this is probably because it's what I'm used to.

We live in rainy Northern Ireland, so the vast majority of the time shoes will be wet and mucky, and your feet will be much cleaner and drier. Presumably people will be wearing fresh socks that day or have showered in the last 24 hours vs shoes that very rarely or never get washed.

I have never asked guests to take their shoes off, although a lot will when they see that that's what we prefer in our house. I can see why some people might consider it rude to be asked. It wouldn't really bother me if a guest felt more comfortable with their shoes on, so long as they weren't dirty.

I would always take shoes off when visiting someone (apart from my aunt's whose floors are filthy, I want as much distance between them and the soles of my feet as possible).
I carry a clean pair of socks in my handbag in case I want to try a pair of shoes on when I'm out shopping and not wearing socks, if my feet got really cold when I was at someone's house I would just pop those on.

i just don't want mud, dog poo or random debris to be a part of his five a day.

I never really understand the dog poo point. Do people live in areas with lots of dog poo or something? Are their visitors particularly prone to stepping in it?

I've always been a shoes off household and have never had dog poo walked into my house. People manage to avoid it and in any case they wipe their feet as they come in.

Mud, well I can't get too worked up about that. I caught one of them licking a worm once.

I'm in the U.K. and at primary we had 'outdoor shoes' and slippers for the classroom is that weird? I thought it was the norm...

I have a small, crawling DC so I insist on shoes off in our sitting room, the rest is tiles and wood floor so that doesn't bother me, I just don't like the idea of DC crawling around on a floor that shoes could have traipsed anything over.

I wonder if it's more a generation thing than a class thing. All our kids take their shoes off despite this being a shoes off house. Personally I'd rather they didn't. Our hall is tiny, there's no space for a shoe rack and I hate shoes strewn all over the floor, it's untidy. There's absolutely no need if you wipe your feet properly on the doormat.

I meant shoes on house. We never take ours off at home.

You have a bbq and expect your guests to take their shoes on and off? Poor guests.

Depends- adult walking around on pavements, I’m quite relaxed. If they ask I say yes but I don’t push. Never would for a arty.

However, we live near a forest and if you think your offspring have a right to trample muddy shoes through straight after a play as well as possibly climbing in seats- I’m a bit meh about th friendship anyway! (Yes, this is why some people are no longer welcome)

And I’ve had fox shit walked through every room by someone!

Yes, their house, their rules. I wish they'd show us the same respect and keep their bloody shoes on in our house!

Maybe it's a mix blue.

Dd friends take their shoes off and I tell them to please keep them on.

One friend has shoes on down stairs but not up. For some reason that makes more sense to me.

Same blue. Just tell them firmly to please keep their shoes on.