Who takes their shoes off in their house? - Page 2

[Annie]

I always take my shoes off as soon as I get in, and just kick them off in the foyer, letting them fall where they are, DH and dsister OTOH wear them at least up the stairs. DH usually takes his off while sitting on the LR couch, and usually just sticks them under the coffee talble. No basket or box. DSis ususally wears hers but she doesnt actually live here, so there's that.

[GoodWillHunter]

We take ours off. We have shoe "pockets" hanging on our entry closet door.I just shudder to think of the "outside" dirt getting on my floor where my baby crawls.. i.e. car oil, pesticides, etc. Ick.

[happymomma]

We take ours off as well. I even bought some shoe covers for the repairmen who have to come in. The thought of walking through oil (and who knows what else) slicked parking lots and then walking through my home and having my babies crawl around on that and then eat with their hands make me physically ill.

No shoes ever in the house.

[Alkenny]

We're usually barefoot. I have a Rubbermaid tote by the front door I keep ours in. We've had at other times a clothes basket and a cardboard box.

[delicious]

we are a no shoe house, too!

my mom never takes her off when she comes over though. i think she thinks we're nuts.

[Carolinamidwife]

Ahh.. my sisters. We have been shoe free for 7 years, since we moved here. I really can't understand wearing shoes in your house. Why? Why would you want to track all that in? Shudder.

We have practically no carpet downstairs and I mop every day so shoes on the tile or wood floor don't bother me but shoes on the carpet drive me crazy. When I went into labor I told dh to make sure to get the midwives shoes when they came in, lol.

[HerthElde]

Here in SK, Canada, *everyone* takes off their shoes at their own house or anyone else's house, no matter how clean or dirty (well, I suppose some might leave them on in their own house, but that's their business). It is considered extremely rude to do otherwise (unless your host specifically says "it's okay, you can leave your shoes on"). All the houses have front-hall closets to leave shoes (and hang jackets if worn).
If you don't have a closet at your front door, get a shoe rack or some kind of shelf for shoes.

[Siennaflower]

Yup, we have a shoe pile as well. Just about everyone I know takes off their shoes as soon as they enter any house. Why track dirt in just to have to clean it up?? Ick

I tried having a shoe rack once upon a time but dh just doesn't understand the concept. So we just take our shoes off just inside the front door and they end up in a pile right under an end table thats there

[sphinx]

Yep everybody here takes theirs off - including the plumber, electrician, etc! It is considered barbaric to wear shoes inside a home. It is a pretty gross concept, especially when there is carpeting (tile or wood can occasionally be forgiven!). You can easily make shoe covers, or (as I've done) buy extra slippers for guests to wear. I also take dd's and my extra slippers if we are going to someone else's house. People also take their shoes off at the office and wear sandals (like birkenstocks).

[maggiemae]

We always take our shoes off in our home and even when we visit other people. I feel so wierd walking around a house with my shoes on. we just have a big pile in the garage. I don't make guests take their shoes off, but regular company I would like for them too. I do not ask my 90 year old neighbor to. My FIL drives me crazy. He knows we never shoes in the house, but he never takes his shoes off. He sometimes comes straight from taking care of his horses and walks in with his work boots on!!! Last week he was playing outside in the sprinkler with DS and he tracked mud, yes mud, all over my white carpet. How could he not notice? I asked Dh to please tell him to take his shoes off from now on. Dh says it would embarass him and cause more problems than it is worth though. I am so glad to know that there are others that feel as I do!

[logansmama]

We take our shoes off too! We also request that our guests take off their shoes. Growing up in Hawaii it was rude to wear your shoes in the house. Now, it's a must b/c of the baby. We have cheap bamboo rack from IKEA that we keep in the entry way.

[kangamitroo]

I am very very lucky to have a mud room. there is a welcome mat outside the door (that rough grassy stuff?), and one inside the door. I line up the shoes inside the door, next to the mat. there is also an old small table, I set dd's shoes on top.

I thought of a rack, but imagined mud falling on the shoes below? I like the racks I have seen that have little cubbies (a la Japanese restaurants, and many Asian homes).

I always hope visitors will follow my lead and remove shoes. I don't ask unless it is wet out, but may start. (I'd like to offer slippers to guests, but in my area most people are unfamiliar with this custom and do not want to wear strange shoes.)

[Fiercemama]

I've tried to institute this when we moved too, with mixed success. I always seem to get to the door, then remember 4 more things I need to go into the house for!

We are lucky to have a mudroom, but it is cramped with bikes and strollers (which need to be locked inside in our neighborhood) and piles of shoes. Also, it is not heated - I actually snapped one of my $350+ orthotics this winter because I left them in my boots overnight. Hoping we can put a space heater out there at some point.

We just have piles of shoes at this point. Would love someone to come and figure out a system for our messy room at some point!

Taking your shoes off is about the simplest thing you can do to keep toxins out of your home. Also, we have very short risers on our stairs, which get dirty and marked up if anyone wears shoes on them (I always know when my sister has been to visit!).

[suz515]

We've always taken off our shoes in the house since I was a little girl. Now we do it at our house and they are usually placed next to the door under a little bench. Otherwise they are put away in our closet.

It's so hard for me to enter someone elses house without taking off my shoes.

As a child we always had slippers for people to wear after taking off their shoes.

[MyLittleWonders]

We take our shoes off as well. I grew up this way; dh did not. He's been a little hard to train ( ) but when we put new carpet in our old house, he snapped right to it. Now that we have moved and have wood laminate throughout a lot of the house, he's more lazy about it, but lately has gotten better because I asked him to try to remember. It keeps the house so much cleaner. I actually prefer going barefoot, and will take my shoes off at other people's houses, at synagogue or church ... I really don't like wearing shoes when I am inside a building.

We had one of those slatted shoe racks from IKEA, but the dirt from the shoes above would get the shoes below dirty. Now, our entry way is bigger, so we just put them in the corner by the rocking chair and eventually I get tired of the big mess and take them to their respective closets. Now that we are wearing sandals more, I usually keep mine and both ds's by the door for easy access.

[Crunchier]

I grew up in Los angeles. We only wore shoes if we were going somwhere that required it, like school or the grocery store. My parents don;t always remove shoes at the door, but when I was a kid, we usually lined them up in the entry behind the door.

We lived in Japan, and while we were there, we had a shoerack for shoes and a basket of socks and slippers by the door. Now we have a basket next to the couch. Our living room isn;t much bigger than an entry so it isn't a big deal to remove shoes on the couch, or if it's wet to take them off on the little square of tile by the door and carry them to the basket. We each have only 2 prs of shoes, so they all fit in the basket. I wear sandals or slippers, so it;s easy to remove them. I take them off while I drive, and while I'm in class, or anywhere else that I'll be sitting down and i just tuck my feet under me.

We do ask out guests to remove their shoes (except for dhs gps who would probably be horrified) and now we don't have to ask, they know the rules, and remind each other if they forget.

[umbrella]

A simple two level rack bought at IKEA. It was only a handful of dollars, iirc.

[tragenmama]

Hi,

We all take off our shoes before entering the house now (Me being Chinese thought it was normal way of life).

It took me 3 yrs to convince my hubby (He is non-Chinese and he thought it was strange to take off his shoes) to do this. Believe me, many many arguments were had over this shoe-issue!

[mags]

Yup, we take our shoes off (DH is korean american, I'm taiwanese american, it was just the way we were brought up). Luckily, we have a mud room. We have shoe racks in the mud room, and usually DH and I each keep one pr that we use the most on the doormat, so it's easy access (we're clog ppl, so it's a lot of slip on, slip off). We also have our guests take their shoes off, most service ppl will do it, but for those who won't (I understand why electricians wouldn't), we have some hospital shoe covers.

Also, DH and I both work in healthcare and omg the junk you drag in is just awful, and the thought of the yuckies from the public restroom floor wants to make me :Puke . Plus, with a toddler in the house, there is no way anyone is wearing shoes in our house, esp since he is one of those babies who puts everything in his mouth. Also, sometime interesting that you can tell ppl who complain about this, if you have carpeting, carpet professionals will actually tell you the best way to decrease the wear and tear of your carpet is NOT to wear shoes on it. Now, this doesn't mean going barefoot (which we admittedly do during the summer months, the oils from your skin will put some wear and tear on the carpet... although not as much as shoe grime), but wearing socks is ok.

Boy, was I ticked when I read the june issue of, 'family circle' at the ob's office and stupid miss manners said it was RUDE to ask guest to remove their shoes saying that it is a japanese custom and since japan did not win the war, then the, "norm" is to wear shoes in the house. She also said ppl who ask others to remove shoes only care about their floors, not about their guests... never mentioned anything about the germs ppl track into your home, and the potential health hazards it could pose, esp to young children. That reminds me... I need to write a letter to complain about her closed mindedness on this matter, not to mention I think it was RUDE of her to make that comment about japan not winning the war. I still don't understand how that was relavant in her decision to deem the, "no shoes" rule as being rude.

[hazeldust]

i do not currently do this, but would love to start. i didnt read all the posts so im sorry if someone suggested this but you could also buy some slippers so that visitors have the option of not having to walk around in socks or barefeet.