Shoes in house?

[NeedAGoodUsernameThatIsntTaken]

Do you have a no shoes policy in your house? And if so why? I hate shoes in my house, it's my number one pet peeve. I find it rude if people come to my house and don't offer to take their shoes off. I just find it unclean to wear outdoor shoes indoors. Wondering is it an upbringing thing (my parents don't allow shoes in the house)? Or class (I'm working class)? Or where you are from (I'm from the North of England)? One of my friends from university that I lived with would wear her shoes indoors and put her feet up on the couch while wearing her shoes (so the base of the shoe was touching the couch where you sit) and also lay in bed reading with her shoes on. Thought that was unhygienic and made me not want to sit on the couch.

Yep, this is one of the most frequent threads on MN. Generally it's said that shoes off is a lower mc/working class thing. Upper mc and upper class being often less houseproud, less germ-phobic and much less inclined to have cream carpets . Certainly fits with my experience. My posher friends don't expect shoes off.
We aren't really a shoes off household. We get ill less than most families I know. I don't think that being pearl-clutchy about hygiene is actually very good for you.

No hard and fast rules here. If I’m in for the night & sat on the sofa then shoes off but I often wander about for an hour after work cooking and sorting things wearing shoes. Having said that we are doing our house up... we may feel different when the house is finished!

No shoes here. My parents don't allow shoes in their house either so it's how I was brought up. I find it very unhygienic, goodness knows what you've walked through outside. FIL wears his shoes and has a light cream carpet and it's FILTHY. My grandmother doesn't wear shoes in the house and had beautiful cream carpets but when she started needing carers, who do keep their shoes on (I know they have to) her carpets started to look really grubby and it looks horrible now. So that just goes to show how much dirt is trailed in!

I think if anything is unhygienic it's carpets tbh. I don't have any. Cream carpets - I just can't imagine why anyone would have them!

Why do I always find myself being dragged into these threads and annoyed by them.

Irish, reasonably middle class. We take our shoes off for comfort, don't expect anyone else to. Asking your guests would typically be seen as quite rude and not welcoming. People can generally be trusted to wipe their feet on the mat and not traipse dog shit through.

I think if your flooring of choice can't withstand shoes or cleaning, it's a stupid choice of flooring.

I've only ever been asked to remove my shoes once, by a friend who had filthy cream carpets. I'd been at work all day and my feet were not the freshest. I've rarely felt so uncomfortable and unwelcomed to a friend's house.

Basically, my view is do as you will, but don't be an asshole to your guests.

Don’t be an asshole in my home!

Is that directed at me? I wouldn't be! I'd wipe my shoes on the mat on the way in, and they walk on footpaths and shops,I wouldn't be wearing filthy hiking boots to someone's house.

Wiping your shoes isn’t enough. If you had shit on your arm would you feel clean if you wiped it with a brush? Probably not.

t's rude to expect everyone to automatically behave the same way you do, or to know what you want them to do without being told. Be polite to your visitors and be polite when you visit others. Use words to communicate, politely.

This!

We have vinyl wood floors on the ground floor and carpets on the other two floors and steps. I prefer guest to keep their shoes on unless they are going upstairs. Considering we keep our pram on the ground floor either on the kitchen or living room and I have two small children that are constantly dropping things, I’m not bothered about shoes on on the ground floor. What irks me is people asking me if they need to take their shoes off and I say keep them on please and they take them off anyway, especially if they’re only going to be around for under 10 minutes.

Wiping your shoes isn’t enough. If you had shit on your arm would you feel clean if you wiped it with a brush? Probably not.

How often do you walk in shit? I doubt it happens to be every year, and I walk miles a day.

Whatever man.

I live in a small flat with open plan kitchen, dining room and living room. No one really comes in the bedroom unless they're sleeping over. The flat has wooden floors and then tiled floor in the bathroom. I take off my shoes whenever I enter, as I'm more comfortable that way, but don't mind if friends wear shoes inside (as long as they're not very dirty!) I sweep the floor at least once a day anyway and mop every 2 or 3 days, more often if needed. I don't like shoes on the couch but no one has ever done that at my house so not an issue, luckily.

I get a bit grossed out when people in films put their outdoor shoes on beds or couches.

This topic makes me think MN needs an Old Chestnuts board. It can go there with Aldi, workmen using the loo, parent and child spaces, delaying summer borns and all the rest.

This topic makes me think MN needs an Old Chestnuts board. It can go there with Aldi, workmen using the loo, parent and child spaces, delaying summer borns and all the rest

Good suggestion. don't forget postmen opening the door, taking in parcels for neighbours and why do men/childless people post on MN

Ah the weekly shoes thread

No amount of wiping my shoes will stop me bringing in gravel (tiny gravel) which loves to hide in the tread of my shoes and I have a triple brush shoe cleaner thingymajig outside. Brushing/wiping isn't enough unless you only walk on tarmac.

People that declare they don’t stand in poo. When people pick up dog poo from the pavement do they wash the skid marks away and disinfect like you would in the house? No they don’t, there are still bits of poo left that you definitely tread in. I can remember my aunt walking into my parent’s house with dog poo on her shoes and traipsing it straight through into the front room. It stunk and took a lot of scrubbing to get the smell out.

Yep - poo, spit, chewing gum and muck - we've a grass verge outside our house and people often take a short cut across it to get to our path - serious mud comes in on footwear with treads on the soles (trainers and men's shoes being the worst)

Kick them off, put them on again as you leave - no big deal.

I never ask people to take their shoes off as I find that rude.

We have no shoes upstairs. But, as we own a dog (who is not allowed up) insisting on shoes off downstairs seems a bit pointless. I actually find it a bit odd when people turn up and start removing footwear. Each to their own though.

Not this again!

Nope, no shoes here.

Hate it. It's dirty and makes
me shudder.

Everyone I know removes shoes so not an issue .