I'm new here - general questions

We are usually sock-footed as a rule and yes, it does keep things cleaner! I won't ask guests to remove shoes though, I think it is rude -

Andrea

I agree that asking guest to remove shoes is rude.

I myself am a sock girl,,all the time even in bed and 100 degrees outside

we keep our shoes [3 females...lots of shoes !!!] in a shoe rack against the wall in the foyer,,it is two levels and holds them well..got it at Wal mart

welcome Brittany!!

I wear shoes in the house at all times! It makes me feel more productive and less likely to slack off as much as without. My kids run around the house barefoot. I usually make them wear shoes outside, due to stickers and cacti we have out there.

As for what shoes I wear, it's either boots (as in cowboy ones, not dress up things) high top tennies (that are made for riding horses, so sorta like boots). Yes, I live on a ranch, LOL! I'm just so used to them! Shoes I won't wear, I hate keds and sandals or flip flops. Keds kill my feet!

If I'm not wearing shoes, I have to at least wear socks. Habit I guess, I hate my ugly feet to be bare! LOL!

Hello and welcome! I am a sock gal. But not in bed can't stand that even if its cold out.

I live in Minnesota, where several months out of the year people go about in muddy wet boots. For that reason, it is not generally considered rude, where I live, to ask people to take off their shoes, although everyone has their own standard.

When we have a party, even in winter, I tend not to ask people to take off shoes, but most people whip their boots off without asking.

We also live in an old house so we often wear shoes just to keep warm. Then again, we have hardwood floors.

And I love to go barefoot outside!

I think it does keep at least some of the dirt outside. That said, we just had another pair of sports shoes stolen from outside our door just yesterday, so I'm a bit ticked with the whole thing. It really is customary here for everyone to remove their shoes, so there's no real question of needing to ask visitors to remove theirs. I think most visitors would see you removing yours, putting them on the rack, and then ask if they should do the same. I certainly would if I were visiting someone's house. Having generic slippers available for visitors is one way to get over the awkwardness, and people can continue to keep their feet hidden, warm, wear socks... whatever, but without wearing their dirty outdoor shoes into your house.

and that's my thesis on shoes for now!

other than that, welcome Brittany!

Kerri.

...being a flybaby!

I like having "indoor" shoes to wear, but we have so much red clay around here and if I accidentally walk outside in them, even out in the garage, I track in the red dirt. It's awful on the carpets. When I steam clean the water looks like red mud! We have a tiered shoe rack in our laundry room, too. I have the kids put their shoes there. Our yard is awful, really torn up right now, so most people instinctively remove their shoes when they come inside. If they don't, I don't comment on it. I steam clean pretty regularly, anyway.

From a good host's point of view, it is never the responsibility of the GUEST to be hospitable. A guest is usually feeling a bit of discomfort in the first place, and a good host tries to make their guest comfortable. The host must be the courteous, attentive one. Here are the following reasons that it is rude to ask a GUEST, not an "outsider", a GUEST, to remove their shoes:

--you are asking someone to remove an article of clothing that may be covering something private like an injury, bad toenails, holes in their socks, foot odor, etc. Asking a guest to remove their shoes sets them up for embarrassment the minute they enter your home.

--it is a power trip. A host that does this is saying to the guest "This is MY house, and you will live by MY rules." If the guest doesn't really want to remove their shoes, you are asking them to submit to your authority, and making them feel VERY uncomfortable, and perhaps even angry.

--You are saying to your guest that your comfort is more important than theirs. Your spotless floors are more important than their privacy.

--if you have dogs or cats, you are saying to the guest they are beneath your dogs and cats. Cats and dogs don't have clean feet. Cats often come right from their litterboxes and walk anywhere they please.

That's my take. Life is messy. Guests first, clean floors later.

I usually don't wear shoes in the house, though sometimes I forget to take them off. It's a no-shoes policy that varies in laxity with the seasons, i.e., with how much crud we'd be likely to track into the house at any given time.

We have mostly hardwood floors. I will never live with a white carpet again if I can help it.

As for guests, I don't ask them to take off their shoes. Instead I have an obvious place inside by the door where they can put their shoes, should they choose to take them off, and I generally greet them shoeless myself. Generally people follow that lead. If they don't, no big deal.

-- Cam

We do not wear shoes in our home-growing up we wore shoes inside,and never thought about it. I am not sure when I started this rule,but I think it was because I lived on my own for a few months,then moved back in w/my 7 month old. Then I started to notice her hands and knees were always dirty(crawling)and my socks(and then the inside of my shoes)were dirty.If I went barefoot,I could feel stuff sticking to my feet and that drove me crazy-and dirty feet are gross too. When I moved back into an apartment,they put new carpet in,I chose the color-it ended up much lighter than I expected. It didn't take long to be visibly dirty-so had it cleaned-and no more shoes allowed. Then next home was navy housing-brand new home,brand new carpet. No shoes rule continued. We were in that home 3 years,when we moved out,there were no stains on carpet,and,even tho it was low quality pile carpet-it was not matted in the high traffic areas.
No shoes will extend the life of your carpet-if you care.
Then I started reading many,many articles of different sources how much nasties are tracked in from shoes. Obviously,dirt and other "natural" stuff that won't hurt you-but provides plenty of food for dust mites to eat and multiply.They poop alot-and that can trigger allergy problems. And think about where you walk during the day,and what you walk on. Public restrooms and stepping on urine and poop-even if its traces of it you can't see(toilet water sprays up to 6 feet when flushed w/lid up). Or maybe a spot where a dog pooped-but you don't see it because owner scooped up the visible pieces.All of that gets ground in to the fibers when you walk on it,and could eventually down in the padding where even if you vacuum w/a good vacuum frequently,you may not ever get it out.
We own our home now,and replaced the carpet when we moved in-even tho what was in here was only 1 year old and was good quality.I would prefer hardwood thruout my home,but we have stairs so did those and the upstairs. None at all downstairs.Carpet is like a sponge,absorbing dirt and germs.
I don't look down at people who wear shoes in their home. My parents do. Just not when they visit my home.I do think it is very gross.
When people visit my home,I have a sign on my door to remove their shoes. Every one who knows me,knows my rule. If they think I am being rude,too bad. I don't want to live on the nasties they will track in. I have never had any one complain,especially when they see how clean my home is. I thought about getting booties for people to put over shoes or feet,but only place I found them,they were too expensive,and could only buy in bulk. I don't want to spend money on slippers-not to mention lack of space to store things. My 9 yo tells her friends my rule when they come over. My 2 year knows to sit down and take off his shoes when he comes in. Our house is up for sale,and even the people coming in to view my home,are asked to remove them. As far as I am concerned,if you don't want to take off your shoes-don't come in. We also don't have people over much and the only family that visit are my parents.
When I go to someone elses home,I take off my shoes-even if their house looks dirty. We do bring clean socks w/us to change before we put our shoes back on...I don't want the inside of our shoes getting dirty.
I have rambled on too much,thanks for taking the time to read my comments.

We're trying to not wear shoes in the house. Hubby is in construction, and we have wood floors. Rock/nail/staple/? in shoe + wood or laminate floors = ugly floors. Plus, why on earth would a housewife/hubby INVITE more dirt, sand/clay, rock, and other organic material into their home? Isn't that counter-productive to the cleaning process? Plus, dirt and sand will break down the foam underpad, and most vacuums out there do not suck up all that dirt. I personally keep my feet in socks AND slippers. Hubby just wears socks. Outside we wear shoes. I will occasionally go barefoot on the front lawn in summer, but will always wear shoes to and from.

We don't demand guests to take off their shoes if they don't go thoughout the house. Thankfully, all our friends have the same no-shoes rule. My F-i-L did recently track dirt clods from the front door to the back door, and I teased him about it, as it's from them that we got our no-shoes rule! (Why he used the front door anyway, who knows. We got the back door as primary from them too.)

I personally think it'd be rude of the guest to track all that stuff into a person's house. Regarding the guests being embarassed, if they're in shoes, they more than likely are wearing socks too. So, no embarassment. If they're in sandals, they're already showing off their feet anyway, so obviously no embarassment. I personally HATE people looking at my feet, and I don't even like my hubby looking at them. However, I still respect my friends enough not to track dirt into their homes.

but I've got plantar fascitis and HAVE to wear supportive shoes all the time. I can only go barefoot/sock/slippers for about five minutes before my feet hurt.

So, why not a pair of indoor only shoes? Because I am an airhead and as hard as I try, this does not work. I will inevitably wear my indoor shoes outside and my gardening shoes indoors at least twice a day. It drives me nuts. I know, you might think, "if it's important you'll figure out a way" well, I haven't yet.

I think there must be a techincal term for my terminal airhead behavior. I cannot count how many times I've left stuff behind at knitting circle, or forgotten important appointments, or driven past the street I was supposed to turn, etc., etc. I think my favorite reminder was JJ duct taping a bowl to me that I'd left at their house several times in a row. That time it did make it home with me!

If anyone know of a cure or treatment for artistic airheadedness, let me know.

Anhata
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