Do you ask people to take off their shoes in your house?

[avocadoincident]

I almost always take my shoes off in other people's houses.

I'd like people to take their shoes off in my house but I don't want to sound like a precious knobhead.

How ( if you do) do you ask people nicely to take their shoes off?

Or should I just not be a precious knobhead?

"My grandma always said it’s a lower class thing."

Well your grandma sounds like a lovely person.

My grandma always said it’s a lower class thing

I presume your grandma didnt realise its also cultural? your grandma sounds like a racist old hag TBH

Having read many, many of these threads on MN, shoes off seems to be mostly a lower middle class thing.

It’s also regional, more common in the North.

I never understand this, i think its really weird to wear shoes indoors. Like sitting wearing gloves! If your feet are sweaty or dirty wash them, just as you would your hands.

That said I dont ask anyone to remove shoes but i don't wear mine & I usually move them on arrival at other people's homes unless I know they don't like that.

And i would say yes my parents are lower middle class & northern. But DH is much more posh & he takes his shoes off inside too (although his parents don't). His parents floors are always a bit grubby.

"Having read many, many of these threads on MN, shoes off seems to be mostly a lower middle class thing."

Oh what nonsense. It's case by case. My very posh friend (landed) takes his shoes off. My working class family take their shoes off.

I would find it really odd for someone to take their shoes off as soon as they got into my house. Understandable if it their shoes were muddy or if they said ''I'm breaking my shoes in, my feet are killing me, I'm taking them off'' but otherwise....sorry I'd find it odd and overfamiliar.

Oh what nonsense. It's case by case.

It’s not. Obviously I’m talking in a general sense.

Landed types doing shoes off would strike me as very unusual indeed.

I have trawled through, ooh maybe thousands of these threads. I find myself oddly fascinated by the topic.

Also I have arthritis in my knees, can't be arsed faffing about taking them off and putting them on, especially as I'd have to sit down (which would defeat the purpose if I had to walk into the house to find a seat.)

I do usually take them off at home, but it's not necessarily the first thing I do, especially if I'm likely to be going in the garden/taking the dog out/putting the bins out/nipping to the shop. Too much like hard work unless I had sandals or slip ons.

YANBU, just say shows off at the door please.

I always ask people if they can take their shoes off, I have a light coloured newish carpet and I want to keep it nice. Plus I saw an article recently where swabs were taken from a living room carpet where people wore shoes and the results were horrific as you can imagine, you're walking on god knows what in the streets then bringing the bacteria into your own home.

"It’s not. Obviously I’m talking in a general sense."

If you haven't got any actual research to back it up, then it's pointless saying it's in a general sense.

If anything, the lower middle classes tend to be the ones who are squeamish about seeing feet or socks.

Nope, I don't. We have wooden and tile floors though all through our downstairs, so there's no need and people rarely go upstairs. I draw the line at kids wearing muddy wellies upstairs though, where we have carpet.

It can be cultural obviously. It can also be a class thing.

I don't care. I'm probably lower class / lower middle class myself. Why do people hate being called that so much? I'm also not from the UK originally though....maybe caring about class is also a cultural thing which is lost on me!

I live in Germany .Kids are taught from a young age to take their shoes off entering a house.It becomes automatic.Everyone takes off their shoes .I dont have to ask.

I don't think it's a class thing as much as a rural/urban thing tbh. I'm from London but my parents moved back to a farm in Ireland and also lived in a new build. We weren't brought up as a shoes-off family but they did become more shoes-off when they were in a muddy environment. That I can understand, but not so much in London, unless you've been playing footie or traipsing across a park with the dog.

Always take mine off and most people automatically take theirs off when they see all the shoes by the door. If I know someone prefers not to, I don’t force the issue, but I hate having shoes in the house. Unfortunately I have had several instances of the shoe wearers not noticing they’d trodden in dog poo before traipsing round my house

I love a good shoe thread :D

It's cultural where I live that shoes come off in the house - nobody wants snow-melt inside the house! So I never have to ask. But on the rare occasions that I do (if Brits are visiting) it's a gentle "Shoes off please", or "You can sit there to take off your shoes, would you like to borrow some warm socks?" or "Straight to the bathroom to take off shoes!" The latter only if the weather is particularly wet/snowy. My bathroom is handily right next to the front door and the underfloor heating means the snowmelt will evapourate and be sucked out through the fan nice and fast.

I'll also offer my shoe drier in winter if people (mostly just kids) have particularly wet shoes on the inside.

I see a few people offer slippers
How many new pairs or washed pairs do people have?
I'm not putting my feet in someone else's slippers

It’s very rare these days that visitors don’t offer to remove shoes before I ask them to. Even the Sky guy puts on disposable shoe covers without being asked. I used to have a sign on the front door saying ‘shoes off or you’re not coming in’.

Maybe depends on area?

I have been a shoes off house since buying my first house heavily pregnant with 23 year old DC1. Hated the thought of her rolling/crawling around where dirty shoes had treaded! I come from a household where we would even have shoes on while sitting on beds (horrifies me now ) so my family took a lot of training but they are now mostly shoes off too.

"How many new pairs or washed pairs do people have?
I'm not putting my feet in someone else's slippers"

Very normal in Asian households.

Why are you ok with tramping dirt through the house but not having your (presumably besocked) feet in a pair of slippers?

We wash ours regularly, they aren't the warm, fluffy type, they're slip on things.

I never ask people to, some do and don't. I think it's rude to ask people to.
I went to a party before Xmas and everyone had to take their shoes off despite it being a stone floor! Thankfully I was wearing tights as I am extremely self conscious about my odd shaped feet having been teased mercilessly in school about them. (They are odd - people would stare) if I haven't been wearing tights I would have turned round and gone home as I couldn't have beared it being barefoot.

No. I want my guests to feel relaxed and comfortable so imposing ridiculous rules and restrictions on them is unthinkable. My home has been specifically designed to provide a seamless transition between outdoors and indoors so it would be ridiculous anyway.

For those complaining about 'tramping dirt through the house', perhaps you need to clean floors carpets, rugs etc more frequently so this isn't a concern?

@Spidey66 I know tons of people in London who take their shoes off. In fact, I know more people in London that take their shoes off than suburban people.

But then, I barely know any white British people in London, so maybe that's why. I find most countries are far more shoes off than British people are.

So does the cat wear indoor slippers too?

Thankfully I’ve not had to take shoes off for a party, that is odd. In a dress, tights and no shoes.