Please settle an argument .......... in other peoples' houses ............shoes on or shoes off?

[helpamamaout]

On entering someone else's home, should the visitor keep their shoes on or remove them?

Take them off unless the persons whose house it is says otherwise.

Really interesting how some people believe feet are MORE dirty than shoes that have been up and down outside.

Not so much a question of degree for me, but the type of dirt on feet (sweat, infections, skin issues) I find more disgusting than what’s on shoes.

And as I’m sure someone will raise dogshit, I have never found it to be a problem in all my years of being shoes on.

People are vigilant about not stepping on it, check shoes regularly and wipe their feet before coming in. It’s just not an issue. I’m not the type of person to get worked up about microscopic particles of it. As I’ve said before, we’re never ill.

@Vulpine - Where does 'the spray' go? Our toilet is not near our sink so not really sure what's getting contaminated?!

The floor, certainly. Other surfaces, toothbrushes if left on the sink etc etc. I figure if you're concerned about all the germs coming in on the bottom of shoes, you would also be concerned about all the germs gathering on your socks when you walk in the bathroom

In this paper, they report on a study that states:
Gerba et al10 seeded a siphonic gravity-flow toilet with Escherichia coli and sequentially placed 3 arrays of settle plates on the floor around the toilet, with each set exposed for 2 hours. For the first sample set (0–2 hours), cultured bacteria were predominantly from plates near the toilet, whereas, in later sample sets (2–4 and 4–6 hours), the positive plates were more randomly distributed around the room. This was consistent with an initial deposition of large droplets close to the toilet immediately after the flush, followed by dispersion and mixing of the droplet nuclei into the air with delayed deposition throughout the room. The E coli bioaerosol remained airborne and viable for at least 4 to 6 hours postflush.

Like I say toilet not near the sink so not near toothbrushes. Rarely any illness in our house so assuming it's ok to continue!

I have Irish, Swedish and Italian family. The Irish and Swedish sides have always been a shoe's off in the house side, but the Italians always leave their shoes on inside. Shoes are always off in my house!

@Vulpine - Like I say toilet not near the sink so not near toothbrushes. Rarely any illness in our house so assuming it's ok to continue!

From what I read, the spray can land on surfaces up to about 6ft away. However, the general consensus seems to be that the risk of illness is very low. But then again, the risk of illness from shoe borne germs is also very low and that doesn't seem to stop people being concerned.....

Amusingly enough, over here people even take their shoes off when they get to the office. Admittedly they then put on flip-flops, slippers or indoor shoes so we're not running around in socks (although sometimes I do because I like it..) but there it is! Cultural differences are funny.

DD's school is shoes off, they all take their shoes off at the entrance then carry them to their classroom and leave them outside the room with their coats. They're allowed to bring indoor shoes to change into but it seems no one does (and why would they? great fun to run and slide along the corridor in your socks!)

I think some visitors to homes are not supposed to remove shoes as they are part of PPE

1. people lifting in furniture etc, probably have to wear steel capped boots
2. People who may need to leave in a hurry some healthcare professionals/ social workers will not remove shoes or put on overshoes as may need a quick get away, if shoes off you may need to leave so fast that no shoes would be a hindrance and plastic overshoes may make yo fall if you try and run or slip once outside

if you are visiting to do things like give injections etc you are expected to keep shoes on in case it drops

1. some people are in and out so quickly it is not time effective to keep removing shoes ie meter readers, delivery drivers that offer to take things through to kitchen
2. obviously people who are disabled who could not take off shoes unassisted or who wear corrective shoes for ankle support

I don't really like taking my shoes of elsewhere but I do if carpeted; I have weak ankles so will not walk on tiled or wooden floors in just socks as too great a slip risk for me, I don't want another twisted ankle I would hope you would understand this; my Dd would take her shoes off

unless visiting professionally when I won't for reason 2 above a blanket no is much better than saying you are a high risk family but for me the risk was more the dropping of instruments on feet, our uniform rules insisted on flat closed toe shoes not made from fabric ie leather or a substitute and PPE rules applied when doing domiciliary visits just the same as in surgery and to be honest I would say of the houses I visited most you really would not want to take shoes off in as often the reason people need home visits often also prevents them vacuuming / cleaning floors regularly

The only people who don't take off their shoes when visiting my house have been people like plumbers (some offered but I said no need) and the police which makes sense to me that they wouldn't take them off. Social workers have always taken them off and the midwife doing her home visits.

I would understand your ankle problem Teacup and encourage you to keep your shoes. I wouldn't want a friend injuring herself in my house! I'd much rather have to wash the floors later than that :)

In my shoes-off house, people who don't need to take off their shoes are people with disabilities, carpenters, plumbers, construction workers, firemen and parademics. I haven't encountered any other sub-groups who would keep their shoes on but I'm sure I've missed a few out.

Parademics? lol! Paramedics.

Apparently there is more bacteria on a man's beard than on the average dog's coat. So germ ratings aren't always what you expect It's nice to keep doormat manufacturers in business too (do people in shoes-off homes not buy them?)

Apparently there is more bacteria on a man's beard than on the average dog's coat

Oh balls.. there goes my sex life!

I do have a doormat, front and back. But it's main purpose is for leaving shoes on in the winter so that the snow melt doesn't spread over the whole hallway.

I have a doormat whose main purpose seems to be to migrate away from the door and fold over somehow to trip me up

WOMEN’S HANDBAGS CONTAMINATED WITH MORE BACTERIA THAN AVERAGE TOILET, TEST FINDS

www.independent.co.uk/life-style/handbag-germs-toilet-seat-toothbrush-remote-control-good-housekeeping-a7937611.html

What I find annoying is, it is rare to find a toilet cubicle with a hook these days in order to avoid putting your handbag down the floor of a public loo.

I wouldn't dream of asking someone to take their shoes off.

I have a doormat and a Hoover.

@resultswithintwoweeks - What I find annoying is, it is rare to find a toilet cubicle with a hook these days in order to avoid putting your handbag down the floor of a public loo.

Of course, given that most people don't put the lid down when flushing, the door is already a festering pit of toilet germs. Which means you're only contaminating a different surface on your bag if you hang it on the back of the cubicle door, rather than putting it on the floor.

Am in Ireland and everyone I know takes them off. Saying that as most people say if the owner says 'oh god no don't worry about that' ... actually I'd still probably take them off!!

I'm in Irish and I've literally never met another Irish person that has a shoes off household. Ever.

Keep them on unless host asks politely.

I'm in Irish, Tá mé as Gaeilge.

I'm Irish I meant!

I'm in Irish and I've literally never met another Irish person that has a shoes off household. Ever.

Me too and my feeling is that it’s very rare here

Or yes, follow their lead.