Outdoor shoes - on or off?

If anyone asks me if they should take their shoes off I say not to worry until the dogs learn to wipe their feet! I do know how much dirt can be walked in as I have dirt trapper mats and the amount of dirt I vacuum out of them is unbelievable.

It’s very Hyacinth Bucket, indeed one of the things that’s laughed at on the programme.. I wouldn’t dream of asking people to remove their shoes, but if they chose to I wouldn’t object. I would ask whether the house owner would like me to remove mine if they were very wet or muddy. Provide a good doormat for wiping feet!

We all do as a family. Always take slippers when visiting DD or DS. But I wouldn’t ask a visitor to do so. That would be rude and they might be embarrassed..

When we visit our son we take slippers to change into. His wife is Canadian Chinese and it's her family custom. They have a shoe rack by the front door. It's a bit of an eyesore, I have to admit. A cupboard would be better.

We all take our shoes off and pad around in socks. It's a habit one gets into. Most visitors do it without being asked but I don't mind if they don't; I'm not that precious and I do have a hoover..

Going round with no shoes on is good for your feet. It's even better with no socks on, but I only do that in the summer when I wear sandals.

It always seems naff to me to ask people to remove their shoes.

One of my rooms has a large cream rug, which seems very good tempered as it never seems to get stained etc. - I have parquet throughout the ground floor, with large heavy rugs except the kitchen.

I have very light coloured carpets and insist that those that live here remove their shoes in the porch. Everyone else gets handed a pair of overshoes or whatever they are called. I bought a big batch of them from Amazon.

I'm getting rid of the beige carpet that came with the house and getting "greige" instead for this reason.
I'm happy to go with the hosts wishes, but it's difficult in Summer when you're in and out of the garden.

When I visit friends in the country there is always the boot room to change into indoor shoes not slippers

Oh, if only I had a boot room! As it is, we take off our shoes in the ‘lobby’, as the estate agents called it, and put our slippers on.

No, I don’t expect visitors to take off their shoes unless they are very wet or dirty, that is what the doormat is for. I take mine off if the hosts want you to, but hate padding about in my socks, if I know I will have to remove my shoes I take some slipper socks with me.

Cream carpets are not very practical, years ago you had coloured carpets that didn’t ‘show the dirt’.

All my family have always removed shoes unless told not to.
Obviously, when we had builders working we told everyone to leave them on.
I take them off elsewhere without a thought.
Even in the late 60s shoes were off if walking into a carpeted room unless it was a fancy function type day (wedding/funerals etc)
Not on wood/tiles though.

It depends on the rules of the hosts

It is not rude to ask to remove them - it is more hygienic that way, regardless of the floor type you have

In all home I have been, I have been asked to remove them.

I always take my shoes off when going to other peoples homes, and 99.9% of people who come to us take their shoes off.

All my family remove shoes at the door and I always remove my shoes when entering someone else’s house. Shoes are dirty and that dirt gets transferred to carpets. At least I know my carpets and floors are clean when my DGC play around on the floors.

People walk in our house and nearly always go to take their shoes off but we say no leave them on as we have hard floors. When we go to people houses we always take our shoes off unless told to keep them on.

NannyB2604 I wouldn’t dream of walking on your beige carpets with shoes on.

When we lived in our old house we had cream carpets and when people came in they saw shoes by the door so always took their shoes off but my brother never did and in the end my DH asked him too. I was embarrassed but it drove him mad that he never did.

Thanks everyone, you've confirmed what I already do

I wear indoor shoes for medical reasons. I don’t ask adults to change but children I do. However, I have a pile of new slippers for adult guests if they want to change.
Personally, I don’t feel comfortable wearing my outdoor shoes on other peoples’ carpets. When I visit my friends in the country there is always the boot room to change into indoor shoes not slippers.

Think we’re all in unison so far - offer to, or take them off in other peoples’ houses, but not ask anyone to do it in our own.
DH used to stride across the hall and into the kitchen in his filthy boots for a cuppa after walking the dogs and say that he was only halfway through getting them all out, so no point in taking his boots off, as he’d have to put them back on again! Thankfully, we had hard floors and a steam mop!! It really was the only thing about him that wound me up!

This crops up regularly on here.

We never did it in my family (obviously unless shoes were very wet or muddy) and it’s never been a thing in this house.

I really don’t like having to take shoes off in anyone else’s house, but will do so if expected to. Mind you the only house I go to where it’s a thing, belongs to an ex colleague who chose such a pale grey carpet all through downstairs, it’s more like off-white!

To me that smacks of prioritising decor over guests’ comfort and convenience, so it’d never happen here.

TBH although they never actually said it in so many words, I know my folks considered shoes-off a rather lower-class thing. Nowadays I tend to think of Hyacinth Bucket!

Some people just take them off at the door. There's no need as we don't have carpets. Some insist. I usually take mine off in other homes unless they insist that I don't.

What HVDY just said.

I always offer in other people's houses. I wonder if it's a relatively recent thing as we always wore our shoes indoors as kids (or maybe we were just a mucky household ).

I've never asked anyone to take off their shoes, but then, we've got laminate flooring, so it's very easy to keep clean. I take mine off when I go to anyone's house unless they said it's ok to leave them on.

Same as kitty.

It is not something I have ever done myself nor would I ask others to.

If I was asked to remove my shoes I would happily do it, however, I have never been asked, maybe I should offer.

I wouldn't dream of asking people to take their shoes off. I do always ask in other people's homes.