Outdoor shoes inside

Orange stain, probably bile.

Thanks Jane10
I may have to get someone in.

The stain seems to go each time only to return a while later, very odd.

Our cat was once sick on our new carpet. I don't know what he'd been eating but it left a large orange stain. Like you I tried everything but the stain persisted. Eventually I got a carpet cleaning company in. The man was very helpful and told me that I'd done everything wrong! However, with his magic system he completely removed all traces of the mark. It cost about £20 at the time. He usually cleans whole carpets but we only needed that little bit hence the low cost.

Dear, oh dear, those pesky germs get everywhere

As the A&E consultant said to me - there are more inside us than you'll ever find outside!

I need some advice
Someone was sick (not one of my own DGC btw) on a bedroom carpet. I've shampooed it a couple of times, used a steam cleaner, used Dyson dry carpet cleaner (which smelt worse than sick) but the stain has come back yet again.

All those germs!!
The carpet is nearly new, so what shall I do now?
More shampooing?

I can only presume you live in sunny climes Hettymaud.

I can imagine nothing worse in our cold dull weather than living in a room with with echoing tiled floors, so cold on the feet. I have wooden floors through out, but plenty of rugs everywhere, which can if necessary be put over a line and beaten.

But if you are all so worried about germs on floors, what about sofas and upholstered seating? All those bottoms with various levels of cleanliness and various levels of clothing between them and the upholstery, not to mention potentially naked bottoms and babies and toddlers! I presume you have unapolstered chairs you can wash or wash the seat coverings daily.

Dear, oh dear, those pesky germs get everywhere.

You can actually hoover carpets HettyMaud!

Whatever the colour of the carpets the dirt is still there. I gave up on carpets (except for bedrooms) years ago even though I love the warmth of them. Now we have tiles and wooden floors which look great. I mop once a week and there is a lot of dirt which would have been on a carpet and stayed there. Yuck.

notanan2 then I misunderstood.

It’s not a case of being selfish - a lot of elderly or disabled folk have trouble getting theirs shoes off sitting on the staircase.
Why in God’s name would you have cream carpets?
That in itself could be selfish don’t you think, your home, yes your choice, don’t include me! Too pretentious ?.

My advice would be to get rid of your precious white or cream or beige fitted carpets and put something more forgiving on your floors.

We have wooden floors on the main rooms downstairs and Persian or Persian-style rugs which are very forgiving. They are heavily patterned and just don't show any dirt.

We have three rugs in the hall, three in the living room and a large one in the TV room. We do have a fitted carpet in the office, and it is beginning to look a bit tatty.

We have a slate floor in our kitchen/diner, ceramic floor in the rear lobby and laundry room and vinyl in the downstairs loo.

I never ask anyone to take their shoes off but some folk do anyway.

Perhaps I just don't have very high standards.

Wow betide the person wearing plain white thin ones!

Can't stop laughing about the dinner party guests with their carrier bag clad feet

Would there be a battle as to which carrier bag they use?

Waitrose, M&S, Iceland or Aldi?

Maybe people could bring their own to co-ordinate with their outfits

??could make for a new game !

Bridgeit
Ask them to put carrier bags on top of their footwear, or get some of those proper ones that folks wear in factories.

I just have this image in my head now of a dinner party with the guests dressed up to the nines, but all wearing carrier bags on their feet!

Ask them to put carrier bags on top of their footwear, or get some of those proper ones that folks wear in factories.

I said the exact oposite actually pinkquartz.

Of course you don't have to be dirty to contract TB. The reason is for it spreading is mainly due to some bacteria that cause it becoming more resistant to antibiotics, and possibly universal travel, and some coming to UK with undiagnosed TB.

What is risky is Toxicara, (type of roundworm) in dog faeces, which can cause disease and blindness in some cases, and this can be carried into the house. Most responsible dog owners regularly worm their dogs to prevent the spread.

notanan2

I hope the comment about unclean families wasn't meant for me?

I am only pointing out about shoes on carpets.....
That's all. DGC caught TB and where from is a total mystery.
no one talking about dirty families that is offensive.

I still remember in 1970 my granddad dying of TB and he was not a dirty family.
be careful what you are saying please.

TB is back. It is not so rare. it is being kept quiet that's all.

Most people do take their shoes off without being asked, I find, (including me and I would take indoor shoes if expecting to stay for more than a quick coffee) but I would never ask or insist.

Obviously young children need exposure to germs and animals to build up their immune systems but plenty of opportunity for that when they step outside their front door. I personally like to keep my carpets clean and looking nice, so asking visitors (family automatically do in my home and their own) isn't a problem, if they were funny about taking them off well I won't let them in ?.

Re hygiene and young children, a colleague and I were once discussing our relative laxity in this respect - despite which all our dcs had grown up perfectly healthy - and she said that now and then she’d wiped her kids’ faces with the floor cloth when nothing else was handy!

I dare say some GNers will now have to go and lie down in a darkened room. ?

(Not strictly relevant but both of hers have degrees from Oxford - just saying in case anyone is imagining feral-type parenting.)

TB doesnt survive long on hard surfaces. It needs to jump straight to another host.

And how awful for those parents to lose a child and then have a family member think its their fault! TB is transmitted by proximity to someone with TB its nobodys fault. It doesnt only affect "unclean" families thats an awful outdated idea

Spread of TB into the house via shoes is virtually impossible. TB of the lung is transmitted through coughing droplets containing the bacteria, and most common in dense populations.

Babies from at risk groups are given BCG soon after birth in UK.

Spread of animal faecal material into the house via shoes is very likely.

In the UK the BCG innoculation is available for anyone under 35 living in areas with a high prevalence of TB. It has been available from the early 1950s. The vaccination is not effective if you are over 35.

I can remember during the 1950s all the big rural isolation hospitals gradually closing down and the number of people with TB reduced because of the vaccination and new drug regimes. The tb rate is increasing but it is not general and is mainly among specific ethnic groups and the areas they live in.

Pinkquartz, of course you are sensitive on this issue, what a tragedy you suffered and with a disease that had become so rare.

Thank you Callistemon

I am sorry I was conflicted about whether or not to say anything.
But a part of me wants to warn people that we are not all as safe as we used to be.

I now know that people can be healthy and carry TB without symptoms for many years. Hence it will now be spread again.
(The Govt. is turning a blind eye and won't do screening....we should all be screened again) but that is another topic.

Back to the shoes....... I totally accept what other people state for their own home.