Poll: Do You Remove Shoes Entering Your House?

[martyp]

Those are fascinating results. I am living in Thailand where not wearing shoes indoors is universal. I always wore shoes indoors in the US. The only time I encountered a household that didn’t wear shoes indoors was a family that had lived in Asia for many years.

 

[Dtail]

The poll responses so far add up to 106.75%. I'm not sure what to make of that. Perhaps people who remove their outside shoes and switch to inside shoes voted twice.

OP first post stated that multiple responses are allowed.

 

[Montecfo]

Well it is ambiguous. If you put on other shoes in the house (probably everyone does to some extent)
you have to remove the outdoor shoes, which was a separate response.

I think the real question is are guests expected to remove shoes. Yes or No.

Very straightforward.

But it is an interesting discussion in any event.

 

[catii]

Being retired in Hawaii means if I'm not barefoot, I'm wearing slippahs, at best. DW pointed out that I no longer own"real shoes" that will fit. I like it that way!

 

[orbops]

I'm Asian and have always taken my shoes off when at home since I was a little boy, or at a guest's home. My wife is Caucasian and also takes her shoes off. We always ask our guests and constructions workers to take off their shoes.

 

[tenant13]

I grew up in shoes off/slippers on culture and it stayed that way.

Question for people wearing shoes at home: if it’s a working day, you put your shoes on, go to work, come back and wear the same shoes all day until you go to bed? It doesn’t seem that good for your feet, shoes or the home…

 

[cag61]

No outside shoes in house.
Use Slippers or inside shoes. Dog gets a wash if muddy or a wipe down if wet. Living in Hawaii that is the tradition. Kept it up after moving to the mainland. Keeps out little rocks, pine needles, etc.

 

[EastWest Gal]

Every track grass in after mowing the lawn? How about pulling weeds when the ground is damp? I've even taken a pair of pants and leave them in the garage. When I'm done gardening, I go through the garage, remove the dirty pants, shoes, and socks and put on clean pants and socks. When we got new carpet we got very good at changing shoes upon entering. I usually wear socks inside. DH prefers his slippers.

Last, going up and down carpeted stairs barefoot or with socks on is much safer than wearing shoes with thick soles or slippers. I fell down the last 3 stairs (thankfully not at the top) catching the sole of my slipper on a stair. I'm very careful on stairs when I'm wearing my Hokas, which have thick protruberant soles.

 

[WhenIsItTime]

I’m in Midwest US. I was raised “no shoes in house”. I always ensure I have socks when visiting somebody else’s house.

Shoes go outside, in public bathrooms, on gas station grounds, restaurant floors, earth, yuck. Why would I want to increase opportunity to transfer those germs/dirt into my living space.

I also use all weather floor mats in my vehicles year around.

I bet there would be correlation in these answer to whether folks have pets (shoes on in house) and willingly wore a mask to minimize risk of Covid (no shoes in house).

 

[LateToFIRE]

For NYC home, yes because NYC is kind of one great big cesspool what with dogs crapping and peeing all over the place, not to mention other unpleasant sources of germs and "contaminants".

For weekend country house, yes, because don't want to track grass clippings, mud, deer poop, etc. in the house.

For other people's houses I always ask and come prepared to do whatever the host prefers.

For restaurants and bars, I tend to keep my shoes on unless its got a thatched roof and located on a sandy beach.

For the office, I sometimes remove my shoes when at my desk.

P.S. For contractors and repairmen we keep a supply of disposable shoe booties for them to use. When they come prepared with their own, its usually a good sign we're gonna like them.

 

[OnTheBeach]

When I was growing up we always took our shoes off. I carried this tradition when we got married and had children. Now that I am 53 and having issues with my feet - I have a pair of running sneakers that I only use in the house. It totally fixed my feet issues.

 

[engineernerd]

We have two houses, one in the Pacific Northwest and one in the desert Southwest. When anyone wears their outdoor shoes indoors in the PNW house, they leave an obvious heavy trail of wet evergreen needles and debris all along their route.
In the desert, it can be OK to keep the same shoes on - if you were only walking on paved surfaces and surfaces covered in decorative gravel. Walking on natural dirt, you would have picked up - and deposited on the carpet - prickly plant matter that can be painful to walk on in bare or sock-clad feet!

 

[SecondAttempt]

I think this is very geographic based on conditions and gets baked into the local culture. In Hawaii it is common to be expected to remove your shoes in someone's home. I do so in my own home but my native Hawaiian partner wears shoes inside to avoid getting her feet dirty from the floor! And the floor is clean! I've lived in countries in Europe where removing shoes is expected. I think the same is true of places in the US where there is mud and snow. Personally I think people should make their own choice for their own home and guests should respect it just as I do as asked in other people's homes.

 

[djsander]

Yes and no. Go through the garage to the entry way and remove them. Sometimes walk around the house with them on, but pretty much take them off in the house.