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?

What happens when it elderly people or people with disabilities who visit who cant get shoes on and off very easily? Does the host bring out shoe horns etc?

According to Wikipedia:

In the United Kingdom shoes have traditionally been kept on, unless there are certain weather conditions (for example, snow) or a certain type of floor or carpet. However it is now becoming increasingly common to take them off at all times. In Ireland however it is very uncommon to take one's shoes off when entering a house, especially for visitors.

Uk also here and most everyone I know is shoes off also.

We are a shoes on house, But i will always ask in someone elses home. I'll admit i dont particularly like taking my shoes off but people have very good reasons to want them to carpet/crawling baby so i understand.

Take them off, unless they were wearing their shoes or told me not to bother taking mine off.
Everyone in my husband’s family take theirs off, about half of my family extended do.

UK here and I've never known people take them off in peoples houses. Unless their wellingtons or walking boots etc.

Off!

We never wear shoes indoors ..I think it’s unhygienic and always ask people to remove theirs and always remove my own at other peoples homes.

But why do people wear shoes in the house? What is the reason? Surely not comfort? You could wear supportive house shoes/slippers. And when do you take them off then? When you go to bed?

I just ask ‘Do you want me to take my shoes off?’... I’m not sure why anyone would assume there is a definitive answer!

Interesting that these places are going from shoes-off to shoes-on, where I think the UK is slowly going the other way:

In Southeastern Europe (former Yugoslavia, Albania, Bulgaria, Greece), people traditionally remove their shoes and wear slippers at home, and expect guests to do so as well. However, this tradition is no longer respected in many urban households in these countries

(Wikipedia again)

keep on

UK here too. I would always remove outdoor shoes. I expect my guests to do the same!

Otherwise you are walking traces of dogs' droppings around the house. Not nice.

Ask! We are a shoes on house but I feel that's becoming unusual (SE England). I usually invite people in and then stand in the hall saying "There's no need to take your shoes off!" as they start to remove them automatically. We have wooden floors if that makes any difference. But I always ask at other people's houses.

The monthly about shoes on or off is a bit late this month. It's the 15th today - it usually comes around the 7th.

Anyway, shoes off here, as I've spent most of my life living in shoes off places, and my wife is Japanese so she would hate people wearing shoes indoors. When I visit someone, I ask them, and then take them off if they ask me to.

I’m moving house this week to a much smaller house with nowhere to put the shoe cupboard beside or anywhere close to the door and I’ve spent far more time than is reasonable thinking about how we’re going to manage our shoe removal with 3 of us piling in on top of each other and nowhere to stop!

Always off. I wouldn’t ever wear shoes in the house (and it’s clearly obvious that we don’t wear them upon entering our house since you have to go past Shoe Mountain to get in) so I wouldn’t wear them in anyone else’s either. Usually even if they say not to bother taking them off I would anyway. My main reasons are: I know when I last washed my feet, socks and floors. I have literally zero clue when I last washed my shoes (which leads me to believe that I probably never have unless they were properly filthy in which case they’d definitely be coming off anyway!). I don’t want my kids crawling all over the floor if you’re going to be wearing outside shoes all over it, I don’t care how clean they look! I wouldn’t walk outside barefoot and then come straight in without either cleaning my feet or putting some socks on, just like I wouldn’t eat dinner without washing my hands!

Always off. Vvv rude not too.

The monthly about shoes on or off is a bit late this month. It's the 15th today - it usually comes around the 7th

There will be just enough time to get this resolved before the "how often do you shower debate" is due!

Shoes off in my house. I’m a childminder, babies and toddlers play on the carpets, the toys that they put in their mouths are on the floor and I’d rather not have muck from the pavements where they are playing. Dogs wee/poo/people spit/general mud/dirt, I’d rather that wasn’t traipsed on to my carpets. Bad enough when someone brings dog poo in on their shoes on the wooden floor in the hallway, I do not want it smeared in to the carpets.

I ask... do you want me to take my shoes off.. then it's there choice.

"Disagree. It’s not the norm in the U.K."

It probably isn't the norm among your circle, but if mumsnet and Wikipedia is anything to go by it would appear that shoes on households are increasingly in a minority. I never wear uncomfortable shoes, but I don't feel that I can relax properly with my shoes on. I always wear slippers in the house.

I'm a shoes on person from a definite shoes on household. Would a way round it be to bring indoor shoes/slippers/slipper socks in my bag with me for dc and myself in other peoples' houses?
Or is that OTT?

just like I wouldn’t eat dinner without washing my hands! I never wash my hands to eat dinner and I'm not dead yet. I wash my hands after the toilet, after preparing food but I've never washed my hands before I eat dinner. I do use a knife and fork though

I never take my shoes off unless asked.