When you ask/require your guests to remove their shoes...

[Kimberly54]

Hi all,

Lizzie asked us about carpet vs hard-flooring, and a number of you commented that you either expected or required a guest to remove their shoes when entering your home.

I understand the feeling, AND... have a perspective?

When I lived in Japan, it was (of COURSE) required that you remove your street shoes.  HOWEVER, there were slippers available for you to wear in the house. Not exactly fashionable, but I do understand the purpose.

* many women wear extremely thin 'hosiery'

* some shoes do not require socks, and walking bare-foot seems a bit strange (?)

* this custom sort of precudes taking a walk out into someone's 'back yard' right?  What do you do?  Rush to the front, get your shoes, then take them out back?

In my home, I have mats outside and inside of every entry.  This is where you 'wipe' your shoes (on both sides of the entry) before/as you enter the house. 

I also do not have carpet, so clean-up is easy.

Of course, if there is mud (?) or rain, well... this is San Diego, so I suppose we'd just deal with it in whatever way.  (Almost never happens here!)

What are your thoughts?

Best

[Allyson17]

I've written in my house rules to remove winter boots and wear the supplied disposable foot wear. I've a rug and boot tray at my front door but guest continue to walk on my hard woods with their snow and salt laden boots! Help???!!

[Lilian20]

How surprising !

[Roberta2]

I always ask the guests to remove shoes. I give them the disposable Slipers (that hotels usualy get - I can get them from Amazon quite cheap), or the ones that I can get from Ikea if a guest is staying long (I sometimes have students that stay for a couple of months, so the Ikea ones last longer).

No one ever said a thing about taking the shoes off.

I also have a little ottoman by the door, where shoes can be stored and that you can sit on to put them back on again .

[Allyson17]

Exactly! I've a bench to sit on and the disposable slippers....why do ppl keep tracking set and salt through my home? I don't keep my snow boots in my room to melt and ruin the floor.

[Rachel0]

It's in my house rules - shoes off when you go upstairs please.  I don't mind guests wearing shoes on the ground floor which is all wood, but shoes come off when they head upstairs which is carpeted.  I have  never had a complaint and most people do it without being asked.  I have considered buying those cheap slippers from Amazon but having worn them myself I find them rather unsafe and what I don't want is a guest falling down the stairs and sueing me for negligence!  

[Gordon0]

Just as I don't take my shoes off when staying in a hotel/motel etc., I don't expect my guests to take off theirs when staying at my house. Wood floors makes things easier, but I wonder why people choose near-white carpets and then get all neurotic about walking on it. 

[Sarah977]

But @Gordon0 , your home is not a hotel or motel. I wouldn't go without shoes in a hotel, motel, either, because I assume the floors and carpets are actually quite dirty. In someone's well cared for and clean home, I always take my shoes off at the door. I don't tell my guests one way or the other- all my floors are tiled or polished concrete and they get washed regularly. I find many guests just take their shoes off at the door naturally.

[Gordon0]

@Sarah977 If a guest takes off their shoes, fine, but I'm not going to mandate it or get uptight if they don't. I just find it a bit prissy, that's all. But that's just my opinion. 

[Kimberly54]

@Sarah977, you make an interesting point:  "I wouldn't go without shoes in a hotel, motel, either, because I assume the floors and carpets are actually quite dirty."

Truth is, no matter how you clean carpets, they can NOT be clean.

So why would I want to take my protective shoes to expose my clean socks or expensive hosiery or naked feet to someone's dirty carpet?

OK, I realize I'm getting a little extreme, but where do you draw the boundary to 'dirt?'  And of course, how easy is it to avoid or clean up?

Dirty subject.  Glad we can talk about it!

[Sarah977]

@Kimberly54Yes, I agree, carpets are dirty no matter what. I guess for me, it's just that in a hotel, thousands of people are walking around there in their street shoes. In a home with carpets, if everyone is accustomed to taking their shoes off at the door, there's at least no street filth tracked in.

[Kimberly54]

@Sarah977, so if it's not 'street flith,' what kind of filth is it?  (This is a real question.)

Best,

[Sarah977]

@Kimberly54   Well, I don't consider carpets in clean people's homes to be filthy.  It's mostly that they can't be cleaned like a hardwood, tile, or cement floor.  In an otherwise clean home, I'd say they are dirty because of dust, maybe something spilled, even it got cleaned up right away, pet dander, and if in a city, general city grime that is in the air that comes through the windows and settles on the carpet.

[Marzena4]

I can add some geopolitics here from the observation of my guests' reaction to my rule of taking shoes off: the biggest protesters are Spaniards, Mexicans, Americans...

[Kimberly54]

@Marzena4  🙂   Interesting, eh?

Best,

[Marzena4]

@Kimberly54 Once I came across some survey about the US: it estimated that 60% do not take off their shoes. 

So you're in the minority. 🙂