Do you wear your outdoor shoes inside your own home?

Question

Why?

I find it very disgusting that some people just walk straight back and forth (not to mention their pets too) in and out of their home with their footwear on. My parents were like this, and I found it to be very low class and dirty, especially with carpet.

Sure, they say that the typical phone is more contaminated than the bottom of your shoe, but hey, that doesn't mean that your shoe is clean. I'm not just talking about mud, dirt, and rain water, but about the things that are or have recently been there: dog urine/feces, spit, gum, cigarette butts, garbage in general, pollution, public washrooms --- head into the city and you can add multiply all this by 100.

Even if you live in a dry sunny place, it's the same thing, in fact, there would be little rain to wash away all the filth, it would just build up. Would you get down and lick the sidewalk while standing at the bus stop or washroom? Yet, people take these shoes inside, where they and their kids are often on the floor.

VERY interesting answers. The solution I think is to adapt the Japanese way. They use slippers indoor usually. And definitely have separate slippers for the bathroom left at the bathroom door. At the public rec centre in Japan it is spotless and very clean. Also have slippers for the washroom. Here at the gym or pool it's totally disgusting... water, dirt, and just general filth covers the floor. When I was in Japan I was very happy with the public cleanliness and cleanliness of people's homes all due to keeping 'dirt' from moving from area to area or outside to in etc. With a huge population in the city I was in, they kept public places very clean. Here in my small town in Canada, it's filthy where ever I go simply because of selfishness -- I do whatever I want without consideration for anyone else. Different way of thinking. Hm, how do I choose a best answer...?

Answer 1

NO,my mom woulld never let me do it and I didnt quite understand why,but now that I rent on my own I understand completely.

Can you imagine how much germs and bacteria you bring into your home by wearing your outside shoes in the home.Even when I go to other peoples home I take of my footwear.

Plus I spend an eternity cleaning my carpets and i feel the same way about others.

Answer 2

I go barefoot outdoors -probably would have most people in this thread screaming in horror, but it's really not that bad. Our skin is made to keep pathogens out, unless we put our feet -bare or shod- up on the table or lick the soles, what's on there isn't going to jump up and kill us. My house is meant to be lived in, I don't care about the carpet being a little dirty. That's what the vacuum cleaner is for, and indeed my two cats are walking in & out all day long also... There has been research indicating that being too clean is actually more harmful than allowing a few germs in your home environment; if you keep everything germ free, your immune system will be more likely to overreact when it does come into contact with any foreign bodies.

Answer 3

My husband is from Thailand, where the no shoes rule is assumed. He never wears shoes in the house. Our son wears his shoes inside all the time. I don't wear shoes in the house, simply because it's more comfortable. I almost always wear socks, but I enjoy letting my feet breathe. Also, I can feel where I'm stepping with socks on, and do not accidentally step on things like electrical cords, the cat, etc., as I probably would with shoes on. My own no shoes "rule" is not because of any rule, and I did this even before I met my husband. I am from, and still live in, California.

Answer 4

You could emigrate to Japan or conversely have a mat at the entrance to the house and hope people use it. I personally use slippers quite a lot but the problem is that they are thin soled and do not give sufficient support to the feet. Seriously though, going barefoot is not the answer. This needs a cultural change and it would require someone like the queen to start it off so why not write to her? Incidentally you do not provide a solution to this problem. What do you suggest we do?

Answer 5

Where I live (the US) the custom is to wipe one's feet before going inside. Special mats, known as "doormats", are provided for the purpose. Since we do not ordinarily sit or sleep on the floor, this method is generally sufficient.

Other countries have different ways of dealing with this issue, and that's fine.

By the way, there's some evidence that a certain amount of dirt and dust exposure is actually necessary for proper lung development.

Answer 6

I take mine off mostly for comfort. I vacuum and sweep frequently enough that I don't worry a lot about dirt. I have wood floors with area rugs. I also have a door mat that I wipe my feet on before I walk in the house.

Answer 7

No, I don't wear shoes in my home. I take them off at the door and go sock-footed. It's a habit that I've grown to love. It's comfortable, and the house says much cleaner. I got new carpet four years ago. I stopped wearing shoes, and it still looks new.

Answer 8

I wear my outdoor shoes indoors, but, being single, I do not have sprogs crawling around my place. If we all had a perfectly surgically clean place to live in, we would not develop immunity to germs encountered daily and not necessarily indoors. Being overly concerned about cleanliness is not a good thing.

Answer 9

Only in emergency. Haven't worn outdoor shoes indoors for over 15 years. Agreed, disgusting.

Answer 10

In our home (as with most Islamic homes) we and our guests take our shoes off at the door. MY phone is definitely cleaner than an average shoe!