To think it's really rude to keep your shoes on when you visit someone's home

[Pavementworrier]

There's so much dog poo about now it's basically a trampling of dog poo

In a shoe-on house, your feet are protected by your shoes, so you don't have to touch the foot germs, but yes, I agree, carpets are vile. I don't understand why people still have them.

I'm allergic to dust, so by extension, I am allergic to carpets because they hold dust. No matter how clean a carpet appears, if I am in a carpeted house for too long, I will need my allergy inhaler. If I sit close to your carpet, i.e., on a short stool, I will start to itch, and my eyes will start to stream.

This.

Whichever side of the argument you fall on, YABVVVVVVVVVVVU to start the 11th billionty thread on exactly the same subject that gets done to death on a twice weekly basis.

(YABU, btw).

Toe cheese?

I'm genuinely worried about your hygiene considering this sort of stuff even comes to your mind. Do you not wash your feet regularly?

We have clear floors and rugs and I wouldn't want anyone's filthy shoes on them. Glad that people I know in real life are able to follow some basic hygiene, wear clean socks and take shoes off at other people houses.

I have a phobia of feet. I don't even like touching my own feet. I do, of course, to wash them, but in my brain, everyone has dirty toe cheese and fungal infections, except me.

Some real obsessive opinions on both sides of this.

Who is walking through dog shit all the time, then trampling it over someone else's cream carpets?

But, conversely, who gives a shit if someone walks on their carpets in sweaty bare feet?

We have wooden floors downstairs, over which anyone is welcome to walk in their shoes or not. We clean them when they are dirty and generally try and avoid walking through dog shit on the pavements.

We have carpets upstairs (and an upstairs living room). Unless you are wearing muddy wellington boots, I'm not going to police what you wear up there either.

Can't believe most people aren't just a bit more chill about it all.

You’re missing the point. When mumsnetters step foot outside their house, the streets are always covered in dog shit, dogs come out of nowhere and steal their picnic sandwiches, they have to spend the day fighting off dogs that are jumping up them.

In real life I don’t know any homes which are shoes-on. My parents often wear shoes inside but they don’t make others do so 😆 that would be odd. 100% of my friends and acquaintances are shoes-off households. Everyone just takes their shoes off automatically when they arrive, it’s not even thought of. Same when I was growing up 🤷‍♀️ yes, uk.

The problem is that if you don’t know and are wearing thin or fancy tights, one’s feet are freezing and that does reduce enjoyment especially when it’s hard floors

Weirdly after starting a thread on one of the most overdone topics @Pavementworrier hasn't even bothered to return

I want to know where this place is that pedestrians can't venture out without stepping in dog poo. I literally can't remember ever having done that in my life, overwhelming dog owners pick up their poop now

I live in a London borough and quite honestly the pavements are vile. Dog poo, paan spit and regular spit. Litter , food debris after food waste caddy collection. Just disgusting

Oh my god yes, 100%. We're a very strict shoes off house. We have lots of hard floors so easy to clean... but the outside is dirty!! I'm in no way that bothered about cleaning, but surely shoes trampling in mud and walking all over dog wee and poo should stay by the door!

My in laws have been coming to our house for 11 years and still refuse to take their shoes off. It drives me crazy every time. My husband has some cousins who are shoes off, apparently they manage absolutely fine when they go to their house with taking shoes off 🙄

Ooo it’s been ages since we had one of these!

I would never ask guests to take shoes off. Would hate to make anyone feel uncomfortable.

No, it's really rude and low class to ask guests to remove their shoes. HTH

I’ve never had anyone not take their shoes off and I’ve lived in multiple places including 2 continents. I think keeping them on is quite unusual these days

For the people who are shoes on - so you just lounge around your own house with your shoes on? Do you put shoes on first thing in the morning? I don’t know anyone who keeps shoes on in the house it just seems so not comfortable to me. I’m just imagining mumsnetters standing cooking in their kitchens with their shoes on 😂

No, exactly the opposite - it's rude to remove your shoes! I don't want to look at someone's manky socks.... or manky feet!
Floors are meant to be walked on and prioritising your pristine carpet over your guests' comfort is the height of bad manners.

If you went to visit The King at Buckingham Palace, would you remove your shoes? Of course you wouldn't. I rest my case.

It's polite to check first - always! The UK gets muddy and damp and shoes can bring in a lot of debris. In hot dry climates it is not that often etiquette to remove shoes, IME.

I’ve seen competitive undereating on MN before I hadn’t till now seen competitive poor hygiene!
I’d rather be low class and not have bacteria, fungus etc all round my home if I can avoid it ! I saw something once where they swabbed shoes and it was horrendous!

If you want shoes off OP you do actually need to communicate that somehow….

I wear my slippers, my own slippers, that no one else is allowed to wear, first thing on a morning. When I get dressed, I put my shoes on and leave them on until I get changed for bed. If I've been out and have fancy shoes on and not my comfy trainers, I might change back into my slippers when I get home.

I think it’s incredibly rude to ask
someone to take them off. Different strokes for different folks.

Bacteria is everywhere. There are bacteria on your feet, on your socks, on your slippers, on your food, in your mouth, in your lungs...

"Fungus all round my home." WTF are you talking about?

It's this obsessive belief that you can live in some hypo-allergenic laboratory because you took your shoes off that is nuts.

Tbf when I used to visit peoples homes as part of my job, and worked with some achingly posh people (genuinely full of real class, they were all amazing people), it was LC/WC and UC that werent shoes off, with MC/those who thought they were UC that were shoes off.

WC/UC care more about guests comfort, MC is more about their home and maintaining the appearance of being higher class than they are.

The more I think about this the more questions I have - so if you came in from a muddy walk, everyone would take off their muddy trainers/wellies and change into normal trainers? Or if you get a shower and change into pajamas you then put shoes on? Surely no body does this?! Or is it just guests that you want to leave their shoes on??

We wear slippers in the house. Shoes on for everyone else unless good friends/family and they want to get comfy.