Do you ask visitors to remove shoes?

spurs_gal

I never asked people to remove their shoes until we had an engineer from Sky come to put up our dish and walked through my lounge with wet, muddy shoes on my white carpet! It is now a given that people remove their shoes once in the door!!

rising_from_the_ashes

Torry_Quine wrote: »

For the record I'm in the it's rude to ask people to remove their shoes!

Me too!

I would be horrified if asked to do this and TBH I wouldn't go in the house - I have difficulties walking and would only remove my shoes if the householder provided something suitable for me to put on instead - eg slippers!

purplerose

Carpets are made to be walked on and dirt cleans off - most folks shoes aren't that dirty from general traipsing about anyway. Different if they'd just cut through a muddy field but there aren't many muddy fields around here so it's not likely to happen. If I go in someones house and they ask for shoes off then I'd take them off but I find it a bit daft to be honest. My partners parents ask this and their house is so freezing on the feet that I have to take slippers when I go there lol.

Person_one

Millie2008 wrote: »

I don't ask, but I always take my shoes off when I visit people. I do it automatically, as it was drilled into me when I was little

What if someone thought it was worse to have your sweaty socks or bare feet on their floors? What if they or you had verrucas!

Floors are for walking on, you use your feet for walking, you wear shoes on your feet. Keep them on!

System

Millie2008 wrote: »

I don't ask, but I always take my shoes off when I visit people. I do it automatically, as it was drilled into me when I was little

Same here.

I don't ask people to take them off in my flat, but most people when they see me take mine off just follow suit.

claire16c

I dont wear shoes around my house, I take them off as soon as I get in and leave them in the hallway or put them away. I mean you wouldnt sit on the couch with a pair of dirty shoes on would you? At least not if you were going to curl up on it! Maybe when Im getting ready to go out then I have them on for 5 minutes or when Im coming in with shopping or something, but I wouldnt sit there all day/evening in them! Wouldnt exactly be very comfortable and I prefer warm slippers when its cold or barefeet when its warm.

Whenever I go to someones house I always take my shoes off if I see a pile of shoes by their door, or if there isnt then I ask would they like me to take them off and go by their answer. Its normally clear what someone expect when you go to their house if theres a huge pile of shoes or not. If its cold I simply bring slippers with me or socks if Im barefoot without shoes i.e ballet pumps but its a bit chilly!

I dont want to be hoovering every 5 minutes!

sneezyboots

Purely from a curious point of view- to those who don't take shoes off in houses- when do you put your shoes on? take them off? and where do you keep them?

As I hate wearing shoes (unless outside) I genuinely have no idea and am interested in what you do. OH's family don't remove shoes indoors so he didn't before meeting me and I have asked him if he would literally take them off before getting in bed and put them at the foot of the bed and he can't remember Now I have converted him and he hates people wearing shoes inside as much as me

FWIW I was always taught to take my shoes off indoors and even take them off at work when I can get away with it :P I have never had a verruca or smelly feet or anything and I think this is because I allow them to breathe (always keep socks on so they are clean and warm though). I don't ask random strangers to remove shoes (although most do as a matter of course) but family/friends know what I expect. And I will trace where someone has walked when they leave having worn shoes and clean the floor.

dogstarheaven

In some cultures it isn't acceptable, (mine as well) as shoes are meant to be left in the porch whenever i visit my family's home and my siblings. it's just the way i've been brought up. When my daughter was a baby, I was more vigilant about getting the visitors to take their shoes off (much to their chagrin surprise). As the ground floors are all carpet-less, I don't mind ppl coming in with their shoes on, but previously 'back in the day' when carpets were fashionable, i found it uneasy about asking ppl to take their shoes off. I do have a massive rule tho' - a big NO-NO to shoes upstairs. definitely unacceptable. When I go out the back for a smoke, I have to place my outdoor shoes on a plastic bag in the tiny back room before I can enter the kitchen again. I don't like the outside dirt to be trampled through the rooms tho' (I'm a gardener, and there's often mud lying around on the paths). So in my opinion, it's best to respect the wishes of the houseowner.

BitterAndTwisted

I think if people want you to take your shoes off at the door then they should give you some slippers to put on. I think this is common in Japan. I don't want to see anyone's manky/smelly old socks.

We didn't have this issue until white and pale beige carpets became so popular and people started getting altogether too bloody precious about it.

Person_one

sneezyboots wrote: »

Purely from a curious point of view- to those who don't take shoes off in houses- when do you put your shoes on? take them off? and where do you keep them?

When I feel like it, and where they fall!