For asking the heating engineer to wear shoe covers in my house

[purplehearts21]

Guy came round this morning to the service the boiler, I greeted him in and asked if he’d wear the shoe covers as I’ve just had new floor fitted and new rugs. You have to walk through my whole house to get to the boiler and I get they they can’t take their shoes off for health and safety so I’ve came up with a solution. The guy looked at me like I’m a bit mad but I wouldn’t dream of walking through someone’s house with my shoes on. We’re a shoes off at the door family and you won’t believe the amount of people that will just walk on through unless you say something. ( including dh father and stepmother who are exactly the same and will stand and wait til you take them off in their home but will walk through ours with shoes on no bother) I find it so rude and would never do it unless I was asked to keep them on. This man looked at me like I was an alien though but at least he agreed.

was I being unreasonable to ask?

Most of the microbes that are likely to cause serious disease live up our nose, on our skin or in our gut. When they fall off us they tend to die very rapidly, they need a host to survive.

If you’ve had workmen in your house you need to clean what they’ve touched with their hands rather where their shoes may have been. I tend to clean door handles and work surfaces. Floors really aren’t a problem.

I think the chances of any bacteria surviving and surviving in any quantity sufficient to cause any issues whatsoever are miniscule. I don't expect anything in my house to be sterile, sanitised is fine.

30 seconds is highly unlikely to make any difference!

I cant work out if youre joking 🤔

The plastic shoecovers aren't slippy - they have a non slip sole so there should be little risk of someone slipping. Walking around in socks is more dangerous which is why we have a box of the shoe covers.

I remember a thread where someone said that shoes off at the door is a “global standard”. So it must be true, I read it on mumsnet.

Hyacinth Bucket lives on. making the vicar and policemen leave their shoes at the door. “On no account do I allow alien shoes on my herringbone woodblock, or my grade one Axminster.” The vicar asks Richard if he has to take his shoes off, and Richard replies “oh yes, I once left a mark on the woodblock, in 1968.”

I’m a firm believer in “a few germs are good for your immune system”, and we didn’t do children any favours in 2020, by making their environment so sterile (and a whole lot of other reasons as well).

Lots do. When we were house viewing probably half the homes we viewed had boxes of shoe covers at the door. When we sold our MIL's house earlier this year, we put a box in the front porch and told the estate agent that viewers should wear them (it had a nearly new light beige carpet throughout the ground floor!).

Even on TV property shows, you often see the presenter wearing shoe covers walking around the renovated or newly built home if you look - i.e. Grand Designs with Kevin McLeod or the other one (the Geordie architect). Likewise seen a few on Place in the Sun. The TV camera doesn't do close ups of feet so it's not always obvious.

This thread is really showing peoples low standards. I’m so glad I was brought up the way I was. Dog bowls in the dishwasher is just filth.

This makes me miss the laugh reaction. Getting worked up over a dog bowl in the dishwasher is hilarious.

I've never seen plastic ones. The ones I've come across are paper, and they're fatal on laminate or tiles. They are the ones tradesmen always try to wear in our area. I own a mop; the floor is washable. The booties are unnecessary.

I love the hyperbole on shoes-off threads! All the carpets with steaming mountains of dog shit, spit, insects, you name it! You need to live in better neighbourhoods!

People are very welcome in my home. The mud, dog poo, grit etc are not!

It's not all about large piles of shit.

You only have to have one of your kids or one of their friends tread even a relatively small amount of dog shit into the carpet once to realise that shoes off at the door might actually be a better plan.

I'm horrified that someone would ask a nurse, carer or paramedic to remove their shoes.
For one i thought they were not allowed to in case they need to leave in a hurry if someone became aggressive or something.
It really is stretching it to ask a paramedic to remove shoes. They could be taking someone out on a stretcher FFS
how often do all these shoes off people clean their floors?

You were not unreasonable to ask, but you are unreasonable to be so horrified by people who can’t read your mind.

Well I’ve never had those people in my home and I clean my floors everyday.

I work at home. I have a dog. I live in slippers or walking boots most of the time. The walking boots don't come in but if I've nipped to the supermarket or been to the pub then my shoes are fine. I clean my floors every day. I don't want visitors taking their shoes off. The floor is getting cleaned anyway.

I always wonder whether shoes-off fanatics with cats or dogs make their pets wear little bootees in the house. Or maybe they are too hygiene-conscious to want pets.

A few years ago we had CH cover with British Gas and had our annual service booked, engineer turned up in his BG van and I asked him if he had shoe covers and he said no, so I asked if he’d take his boots off as we had newish carpets. He refused and said he had to wear his boots in case of injury, so I told him that in that case I was refusing him entry to do the service. I immediately rang BG to complain and they agreed with my reasonable requests. Sent another engineer the following week, asked him if he had shoe covers, he said no but not a problem I can take my boots off! I then told him about the palaver the week before and he was shocked and totally sided with me.

They’re probably the same people who think that all cats should be indoor cats, because outdoor cats are furry bird-murdering hooligans who shit in other people’s gardens.

Not sure about dogs. I once saw a dog wearing shoes during the “extreme heat” (help! Murder! Panic! Global apocalypse!) of 2022, but think that was to protect the dog’s from hot pavements.

They’re probably the same people who think that all cats should be indoor cats, because outdoor cats are furry bird-murdering hooligans who shit in other people’s gardens.

Not sure about dogs. I once saw a dog wearing shoes during the “extreme heat” (help! Murder! Panic! Global apocalypse!) of 2022, but think that was to protect the dog’s paws from hot pavements.

Most bring their own shoe covers , DH is quite DIY oriented so we have a lot of old sheets - old cot and single sheets - that we use as dust covers - if we know someone is going to be in and out to their van a lot we just chuck those down

Because I wouldn’t ever want to ask guests who come for say, a party, to take their shoes off? It feels like something you say to small children.
And no, it isn’t “filthy behaviour”, everything can be cleaned.

You do know a dishwasher basically sterilises dishes? My standards are fine and we’re never ill. How about you?

Exactly! Accidentally spreading only a small amount of stinky dog poo stuck to the bottom your shoes all around your carpets is a huge pain in the * to clean!!

Just leave any outdoor shoes by the entrance and wear comfy & clean slippers inside.