To expect visitors to take their shoes off?

[marymungoNminge]

Just that really! Do you take off your shoes in the home or keep them on?

I'm pretty house proud and I like a tidy home, not a germaphope by any means but I take pride in keeping my home fresh and clean. (Well as much as I can with a toddler!) I think it's really rude to walk into someone else's home with outside shoes on where there's spit, shit, dirt and whatever else. If I had wooden floors maybe that'd be different.

Someone came for an appointment today walked in with their shoes on and left dirt on our stone coloured carpet. WIBU to tell people to remove their shoes if they walk in with them on? DD(2) takes shoes off and puts them on the shoe rack. I just think it's gross but maybe I'm the odd one! It's just how I was brought up!

This is why much of the world thinks the British are a bit revolting.

Do people really not see how rude it is to walk on a well kept clean carpet with dirty shoes, without even offering to take the shoes off?

I can't see how asking someone to remove their shoes is ruder than that. What if its been raining and someone has light carpets? No way would I have wet soggy shoes over my floor where my toddler spends a lot of time.

Which is exactly why I want to at least try and keep them as nice as possible without muddy shoes on.

In that case my carpets may not be clean, but at least they look clean!

This has been done to death.

We remove shoes at home, and I offer to remove them when I go to other people’s places - but would never ask guests to remove shoes when visiting - I cringe just thinking of that, let alone asking people to do it. 😬

It’s so precious.

That's why I won't have carpets downstairs.

You could always ask people to put shoe covers on if you get some in. Some people are embarrassed about their feet

I don’t enforce it but I come from a culture where shoes are taken off. I probably wouldn’t ask someone to remove shoes, it would feel impolite but it makes me wince if people are in shoes in my home. Happily I’m an anti-social sod so it doesn’t come up often.

And as for the dreaded ‘guest slipper’…

The only thing worse than asking guests to remove their shoes, is then also offering up a shared ‘guest slipper’.

It's far ruder to expect someone to come and cut/colour/style your hair in their socks.

You’ve clearly lived a very sheltered life OP, I’ve visited homes in a professional capacity where I’ve seen rats.

Don't assume that your hairdresser only visits one type of home.

You want no shoes - you should provide shoe covers.

We are a shoes off house because DH is North African and he and the DC pray on the floor. We have wooden floors so no carpets to worry about.
Having said that I would never ask a guest to take off their shoes. Their comfort should come before a bit of extra floor cleaning. I would hate for anyone to feel uncomfortable or embarrassed coming into our home.
Most people offer but again it would be left to their personal preference.

Mine look clean though.

I just think if you're going to be hard line over clean floors you have to make sure your 100 clean everywhere else.as said I've sat in militant shoes off houses and witnessed some behavior I consider unhygienic and vile.

It is most definitely rude to ask someone to take their shoes off. It’s the first thing terrorists do when they kidnap hostages.

I have specialist inserts in my shoes wear them all the time bar bed .
I do find it uncomfortable when I'm shoeless in someone's house and for days afterwards .I always would take them off. However once I know that's their preference I ask them if I can bring indoor slippers next time so I can wear them .Funnily enough one house I do visit with shoes off policy is in need of a good floor clean .

I agree! We just had our house carpeted, and our small children play in that room. We've had lots of tradesmen come and go and they are all happy to remove shoes/wear shoe covers.

Tbh I grew up in a shoes on house, so it took me a while to adjust, but now I have it's part of our daily routine and quite clear to guests as all the shoes are at the front door!

We ask guests too and not had any be put out by it...

I have custom built orthotics and can’t have bare feet even in my own house. There’s no way I’d be padding about barefoot in anyone’s house!

Would you ask the King to take off his shoes if he came to your house? I think asking people to remove their shoes is rude, and I don't want to see people's socks or bare feet - yuck! Floors are meant to be walked on and we have always been happy for people to have shoes on indoors.
(And yes, it probably is a class issue too..... ).

I don't ask guests to remove shoes but secretly judge them if they do not. I find it very strange that you'd want to drag in unidentified pavement fluids into your home.

Most threads on here have been done to death.

This is such an old chestnut. Yabu for not enabling voting and settling it once and for all

I think it's rude to ask guests to remove shoes unless it's a cultural norm and they would expect it.

It's also rude to knowingly wear wet, muddy or dirty shoes into someone's house. On a dry day, clean shoes wiped on a doormat on are a pretty minimal risk.

Then it comes down to other questions - are sweaty bare feet worse than shoes? Guest slippers a verruca in waiting? Do your guests feet need protection from your filthy floor? What about hard flooring?

It wasn't so much the hairdresser coming in with shoes in, it was in general. I said upthread that workers it's different.

I mean people coming round in general.

Sorry - I'm on my phone app so can't enable voting!

@PersephonePitstop I haven't lived a sheltered life. Very much the opposite, thank you very much. Don't be so rude on such offensive assumptions. Part of my upbringing is why I am like this about a clean home.

I don't make guests, because they normally come straight through the house to the garden to sit at big table, with bbq etc.

We don't take ours immediately off, although we do change into slippers quickly. If you are bringing in big food shop you might go back to car 3 or 4 times, so you'd need to carry on wearing shoes.

I offer to take off at other peoples houses though, out of politeness, although I don't immediately whip mine off in my own house.

My home is very clean, I can't think of anywhere where I'm unhygienic just because I don't let people in with shoes on.

It's unclean practices I've witnessed.