No shoes

[mimid]

So we are moving to a new place and getting rid of the carpeting. I really want to go "no shoes" but how do I do this with guests? I'm planning on getting an assortment of slippers and socks to keep ina basket in the entry but can you really tell people, "You have to take them off" or do you just offer and encourage. A few of our friends are no shoes and she just mops after guests who wear shoes but she also doesn't have a little area with a seat and something else to put on.

[lilsishomemade]

I'd just say, "Can you please take off your shoes? If you'd like something to wear, here's this basket....". I think having a little bench or something is very considerate! I know I've been to some people's homes who have the no-shoe policy and it's akward for me to take them off while not sitting (eight months preggo, here).

[SAHMinHawaii]

We have never worn shoes in our home. My DH grew up in hawaii so it not only rude but very uncommon in peoples homes. So i lived in hawaii for 5 yrs, we just moved to arizona. At first it was weird for me to take my shoes off all the time, but now its habit. We just took the carpet out of this house, but we still apply the no shoes rule. We simply tell people to please remove their shoes. We have never met anyone who didnt respect that. Really i can't see how people wear their shoes in the house. It really is disgusting to me. My Stepmother told me that you can't expect people to remove their shoes in the mainland like you do in hawii. But it is my house, my rules! They do make really cute ceramic tiles that say please remove your shoes in hawaii. I bet you could find them online. Ours used to say Please remove your slippers..mahalo. In hawaii slippers are your sandals but we say slippas. And mahalo means thank you in hawaiian. I guess not wearing shoes in our house is a easy rule for us since dh grew up in hawaii.

[mamamelia]

we don't wear shoes in our house, but haven't taken the step to ask anyone to remove their shoes. what do you do in the case of people who use a medical excuse for keeping their shoes on? do you still apply the "my house, my rules" rule?

off topic..
yesterday my dh's brother was intentionally stepping on dd's feet (he was playing with her) and i told him not to do that because she often puts her feet into her mouth and it's just gross. he said it's no different to her walking around barefoot outside or inside the house.
now, can someone tell me what you'd say to a person like THAT?? this is the second time i've had to tell him and for gawds sake he is 26 years old. :

off topic again..
SAHMinHawaii, i loooooove your sig. you have such adorable kids!

[momto l&a]

I find if you have a pile of shoes by the door most people get the clue to take theirs off. Of course there are a few thoughtless people who wont.

And there are people who arent comfortable at all without shoes on for variuos foot problems.

Most people though when they see are pile of shoes and a chair/ bench by the door will remove them on their own accord

[StephanieK]

We don't wear shoes in the house. We don't ask people to take them off, but most people do anyway. If they leave them on, oh well. Some people are uncomfortable taking them off, I don't want to be insensitive to that. Of course, I can totally understand when it's part of the culture, like in Hawaii.

[LadyMarmalade]

We have a little sign saying 'please leave shoes here' along with a basket. We've never had anyone leave their shoes on ... we've considered taking the sign away because people know it's the 'thing to do' at our house.

[srain]

We, too, usually don't ask, but people catch on themselves. The piles of shoes on the porch usually clue them in. We only ask (or put up a sign, if we're having a party) if it's really muddy or otherwise nasty outside (because otherwise the shoed people would be tracking in wet stuff that would get on the feet of the unshoed!)

So you could try saying nothing and see if it takes care of the issue.

[peekyboo]

If I see a pile or neatly lined up shoes by the door, I will ask if the homeowners would like for me to take off my shoes. I have nothing to hide and usually have clean socks on

Here, we have the big pile/trail of shoes by the back door so people usually ask. Heck, the guy from IBM who came to fix dh's laptop even took off his shoes before leaving the entryway.

[*daciaperfect*]

we have no problems asking people to remove their shoes. one of the first investments when we bought our house was for a bench to put at the door. i have had only one person battle me on the no shoe policy, and that was my rude mother who is also not welcome in our house now (its a long disgusting story). i do want to get a sign for the door though.

[moon child]

we have a no shoe rule too. always. most people that come over regularly remember, others all it takes is a gentle reminder. when my mom visits she always make a big deal of how inconvent it is for her. oh well mom.

we have carpet though out our house, and with little ones always playing on the floor I think that wearing shoes in the house is just gross. I try to explain to people (that are in house shoes wearers ) to think about where the soles of shoes have been that day. they usually think I'm

dh's parents were just here for a week. they know our rule and are always good about it. (so I thought) yesterday they were leaving to return home, and their friend was coming at 8 am to take them to the airport. the kids and I got up at 7:30 to say goodbye and stuff. whats the first thing I see when I awake? they are both wearing their shoes I can see wanting to be ready when their friend got here, but come on...how long does it really take to put them on? 1 minute? if that! ds2 noticed too and was saying no no and pointing at their feet mil told him that her shoes were clean because she hadn't been outside yet that day. ( umm yeah, shoes magically clean themselves at night ) whatever :
sorry for the rant!

I keep meaning to have ds1 make a sign....maybe this is my sign....

and rambling

[sweetpeas]

We don't have a "rule" about shoes in our house, but none of us wear shoes in the house just because we don't want to. I'd say 90% of the people who come into our house & see us all barefoot & random shoes piled by the door ask if I want them to take their shoes off, I don't think you'll have a problem with it.

[mimid]

Thanks all! I think I'll just do the pile and hope that people notice until the babes come and start playing on the floor. Then I'll re-think my plan depending on how everything is going.

[celestialdreamer]

I had been fighting my DH to take his shoes off for years when I finally decided ENOUGH and made a sign for in the entry. I did it mainly because dd had just started crawling (this was about a year ago) and I also was sick of having to vacuum twice a day (we have all wood floors so every speck of dirt shows). I took a pic of DD playing on the floor and said on the same paper 'NO SHOES- Anna likes to play on the floor, please help us keep it clean!' The only 2 people that don't automatically take their shoes off are my FIL (he's got REALLY stinky feet ) and my mom's boyfriend (again same problem ). It annoys me that they don't take their shoes off even though everyone else does, but I'm not going to specifically ask them to take them off. We do have a chair by the front door by the sign to make it convienent, but I don't have any 'house slippers' or anything. I'm thinking maybe I should get some when I go to IKEA (they have them for really cheap by the checkout).

Dh used to be really bad about remembering to take his shoes off, but he always does it now, even when we go to other people's houses after he saw what an amazing difference it was on our floors. The only time he doesn't take them off is if his hands are greasy from working on a car and he doesn't want to get his shoes all gross. Then he usually hears me complain about the pineneedles he tracked in on his way to the bathroom so he cleans them up

I don't get how people wear their shoes in their houses. Thats just GROSS! I suppose I didn't notice though until we had all light colored wood floors (only 2 small area rugs). Of course I'm weird and I think carpet is kinda yucky too.

[Godiva]

Originally Posted by celestialdrmrmama

Of course I'm weird and I think carpet is kinda yucky too.

Me too. Actually I think carpet is downright disgusting. Especially since we ripped ours out after puppy training our dogs. Even though it looked clean on the surface, underneath it was just soaked with urine, and what looked like blood from the previous owners. I almost puked when I realized that we had been living in that for months. Sorry! Back to topic..

DH always forgets to take his shoes off. He is starting to get better though. His parents do take their shoes off...after they have already walked all through the living room Everyone else is good about it when they see us not wearing shoes. People tend to pick up on other people's customs just by following their lead.

[CarrieMF]

We have always taken our shoes off, I don't know anyone in Canada who lets people wear shoes in their houses. We don't have a bench in our house because there is no room, my parents do now but it's usually covered with their stuff.

[Owen'nZoe]

I don't ask guests to remove their shoes, but everyone here just does. I don't know what I would do if I had to ask my guests; I think I would have a really hard time asking, because I would feel like I was being a tad rude and putting my guests on the spot. Thank goodness it isn't an issue for us!

[srain]

Originally Posted by moon child

we have carpet though out our house, and with little ones always playing on the floor I think that wearing shoes in the house is just gross. I try to explain to people (that are in house shoes wearers ) to think about where the soles of shoes have been that day. .... mil told him that her shoes were clean because she hadn't been outside yet that day. ( umm yeah, shoes magically clean themselves at night )

I prefer that people not wear shoes in my house just ebcause I don't feel like cleaning up after them, but I don't think it's a health hazard. Most people are unlikely to track in anything that's nastier than what's on the ground outside my door, and I encourage my kids to play outside, so I don't worry about that aspect. I want people to feel comfortable in my home, and if it's important for them to wear shoes in order to feel comfortable, it's not worth it to me to press the issue. It is my house, so I feel I have the right to demand anything I feel like, but shoes-off isn't important enough to me to argue about.

[counterGOPI]

i m gladi found this! i have a no shoe policy in my house but feel weird tellingppl to remove their shoes. we have a small home where the front door is in the living room so no space for a chair to remove the shoes. mil is so annoying about this. last time she was here she said she wouldnt wear her shoes in the huse but then we were getting ready to go out and she came down the stairs in her shoes.. i just looked at her and she said im going right out the door! like its ok to wear them i nthe house as long as youre goingout the door! geesh!!!!! grrrrrrr.
so how do you ask people nicely when you are shy like me?

[earthenware]

Originally Posted by CarrieMF

We have always taken our shoes off, I don't know anyone in Canada who lets people wear shoes in their houses.

I remember reading a thread like this a few years ago and just being that people actually wear shoes in the house! i have never been able to wrap my head around it! This must be a warm weather / dry ground phenomenon. What about places where it snows or rains? Do people just wear wet shoes inside, maybe wipe them off or something? I have never even seen a person wear shoes around their own house (unless maybe quickly running in for something but most times people just flick their shoes off at the door). And to think, all this time I thought that people in TV families that wore shoes in the house were just doing it because they were on TV, not because it was real! I even remember saying this to my dad as a kid.