Shoes off

I am more like you Cabbie I don't mind shoes as long as they aren't wet or muddy.
DS allows his dog onto my carpets and probably onto the furniture. Most of my rooms have wood floors now.

A retired policewoman should that be person? when describing some of the homes she had to visit, said you had to wipe your feet on the way out!

Correct Aggie, no objection to removing shoes . It is expected in my brothers house and at my son's. Yesterday I was in someone's bungalow - no where to sit and remove shoes !! Next time I will take a pair of indoor shoes to change into , walking about in stocking feet does not give me the support I need - I feel very uncomfortable , not to mention my feet were cold!! Ah well I will know next time - if invited again! but will no forget to wear slip on shoes!!!!!

Those blue slip on shoes covers are lethal. They are very slippy on carpets. The party I mentioned having been spoilt by the requirement to remove shoes did provide them but people were skating about on them. Our 80+ neighbour was mortified at having to be seen with a big hole in his sock. The hostess set back her relationship with her new neighbours due to her footwear policy. My friends and neighbours mean more to me that carpets which I can easily hoover or clean further if necessary.

Visitors have asked but I don't expect it, we have wooden floors downstairs so it doesn't bother me. My grandchildren always take theirs off, I think that's a home habit, their shoes are always in the hall straight away they tend to head upstairs first.

In our old house which was three stories when our children brought friends home they tended to all leave their shoes off before they headed upstairs, sometimes I wished they'd kept their trainers on, teenage boys feet, not always being fragrant

I only have a pair of slippers because they were bought for a stay in hospital. I'm mostly in boots of one sort or another now it's wet and muddy so keep these slippers by the back door. My terrier is convinced they are a couple of rats and insists on running around the house with one of them in his mouth, tossing it up in the air and generally having a lovely time, I end up standing on a cold stone floor in socks. They are beginning to look a bit bedraggled so I think I'll go back to wearing a pair of slip on shoes which actually are much safer for walking in and of less interest to the dog!

I prefer people to take off their shoes . I hate the risk of dog's mess on the carpets .
But I think that if you ate going to make rules and regulations then please provide a chair and some socks for them .
When visiting relatives we usually take slippers - more for comfort then hygiene !

I was at a house recently for a meeting, where the host had a tray and shoe covers in their porch. No one that I observed took their shoes off or used the covers.

As a child I don’t recall ever taking shoes off indoors or at school. I was baffled at my children’s school when they had to wear plimsolls instead of their expensive school shoes to ‘save the floors from being damaged’. Shouldn’t a school have child-proof flooring? :think:

I don’t like walking in bare feet and worry about what I might pick up from someone else’s floors. I also could not, for the life of me, put on a pair of slippers that anyone else had worn. Yeuch! 🤢 I take slippers if I’m going to be in another house for any length of time but I don’t mind either way if people do/don’t take their shoes off in my house.

As Whiff touched on, it is apparently a class thing. The aristocracy had servants to do any cleaning required and could afford replacements, if required, while lesser beings had worked hard to acquire what they had and wanted to look after their possessions.

Fancythat,in response to your earlier post, I was born and grew up in N.Ireland where it would never have occurred to us to remove shoes. It was once we came to Canada to live that it became the norm. I’m curious to know what the something is that was explained 🤔

Nannarose I must admit I’ve never considered shoe covers but it’s a thought! It would save me grappling with awkward shoes and boots in winter, and losing my dignity in the hallway. Or finding that their dog has made off with a shoe which then has to be searched for, sometimes not completely unmarked

We take shoes off and keep slippers or cute indoor shoes at children's homes, our children and GC GGC take shoes off and wear slippers whilst here.

We all walk dogs throughout the day. No need to bring in dirt.

I am going to a new group meeting in a home for the first time, so I must make sure I wear shoes which I can more easily take on and off in case it is expected. Whilst I understand the thinking, to me it feels weird in a social or semi-formal environment, sitting, or worse, standing, in socks or bare feet.

My feet easily get cold so I take slippers if I am going to family. They always remove their shoes at my house, though I tell them they needn’t, unless they are muddy.
DH would never take his shoes off. His foot specialist told him to always wear shoes, and latterly, he could not have managed to get them on and off without a struggle.
I appreciate that people do not want their carpets dirtied, but some consideration needs to be given to the difficulties some of us have with shoes and feet. A chair is a help. So is a shoe horn.

This is an old stream rejigged with some answers missing out . On my screen, I have no comments that I made, and GG is repeated at least twice as are others.
I did not take my shoes off at home and neither did visitors. We do now have the American-style tray for wet shoes in the porch and a bench to sit on. Most friends offer to take them off.
Have you ever sat and had a formal dinner or been to a Christmas drinks party and had to take your shoes off? Only once have I had to do it and everyone giggled at the pink fluffy numbers the hostess was wearing. Most people brought their dress shoes.

Once we had wood to replace our downstairs carpets, DH would wander in, usually in some form of Barbour boot, straight from the kennels or wherever! His reasoning for not removing them was that he’d be heading out again after a cuppa and toilet break! His motto was that the hard floors were easy to clean - however, that was my job!

PS: nightowl - wouldn't shoe covers be easier? I used them during my work life (before i had this arthritis and uneven gait problem)

I think that if you have that rule, you should warn people, especially before a party / meeting of some kind.
I need a raise in one shoe. If asked to take my shoes off, I must then really sit - I can walk to a chair, but not stand for any length of time, or move easily about in a room.
I have a pair of shoe covers in my car that I can put on if need be - but yes, I need to sit in order to do so. Interestingly, my Muslim friends are sympathetic and are OK with me wiping my shoes carefully.
And in response as to how common this used to be - certainly most househilds when I was growing up had 2 door mats - outside and inside for wiping shoes. Only work boots / wellies / hiking boots were taken off.

I also think that an 'everyday' rule of no shoes should probably be suspended for a party - for the reasons given. You have to clean up anyway!

Yes always shoes off in my home and local friends homes. but I would obviously provide a chair if someone needed one. All trades do it as a matter of course. However when I visit friends living in the country it is different as they often have stone floors..

Aveline

Having to take shoes off in someone's house was literally never done when I was younger. It seems like a very new thing to me.
I'm not alone either. A new neighbour invited us all for a drinks party. Person after person was stopped at the door and told to remove their shoes. There was consternation! Elderly people standing around in stockinged feet were most unhappy. It completely spoilt an otherwise kind invitation. We all live in the same block of flats. Nobody had muddy feet or dirty shoes at all.

Same here. Never a ‘thing’ at all.
And I still don’t expect people to take shoes off, unless of course they’re very wet or muddy, in which case 99.9% of people don’t need to be asked anyway.
(The fact that our carpets are ancient has nothing to do with it.)

Whiff I think you’re right, I think there is a class element to this. I have found (in my limited experience!) that the truly upper classes don’t care about shoes, muddy riding boots, wet dogs and even the odd pony coming into their homes. My working class family were fiercely proud of what they had, however old and shabby, and their homes were spotless (sadly I do not live up to their standards).

I don't expect anyone to remove their shoes when they come here. The carpets are old.
But I do remove my shoes when I visit my neighbour because all his carpets are pale and beautiful. I agree, a seat would be useful, especially when putting shoes back on again. I have to lean against the wall and hope for the best.

I visit many people’s homes in my job and I always ask whether I should remove my shoes. Yes it feels a little awkward conducting interviews and assessment sessions without shoes but I’m used to it now, as long as I make sure I am wearing socks (without holes!) even in summer.

I wouldn’t dream of asking anyone to remove their shoes when they visit me but I appreciate it when they ask, as I do the same with friends. It just feels respectful. With family, we always remove our shoes and either take or keep slippers at their homes.

I am from working class stock. My nan and grandad had lino and homemade rugs out from old fabric . We always took our slippers those family members who didn't went in stocken feet. Both my parents worked on factory floors took a lot for them to save up and buy the best carpet they could afford. Taking shoes off was the rule in my large extended family. My parents where both born in 1927. And both had done it all their lives.

My husband's parents where well off but it was shoes off in their home . They came from work class stock but my father in law became management.

From the first page seemed if I was commenting some crime thankfully this page other shoes off posters.

The dogs that have been in my home their owners always brought a towel to wipe their feet and tummy just as they do at their own houses also they are shoes off in their own homes.

When you have had to save all your life as my parents and I have you buy the best you can and look after it. Most of my furniture is 30 +years old . Only thing that brought new was mattresses every 10 years. And when I moved to my bungalow I brought a few bits of new furniture. The double bed ,mattress ,bedside table and new bedding was brought with the proceeds of selling my few bits of gold and silver jewellery.

All this who ha about shoes good job no one mentioned smoking or vaping in people's home or getting drunk.

Oh for a hall big enough for a chair! Mr C says the thing he misses the most living in a bungalow is sitting on the stairs to deal with his shoes. .

We would never ask people to remove shoes when they arrive. Most do though. As a family we do in our own and each other’s homes. We take soft indoor shoes to change into if we’ll be there for more than an hour, the family don’t bother and apparently don’t suffer from frozen feet.

Experience with friends varies from one who keeps those slidey over covers for anyone crossing the threshold (not optional!) to another who is horrified at any suggestion of shoe removal, no matter how grubby the shoe. We just go with the flow when visiting.

It’s rare to be asked directly to take shoes off but it’s increasingly expected by many, apart from those in the country, often with dogs (and other pets ) who seem less bothered.

Nope, never been asked to take my shoes off and I wouldn't dream of asking a visitor to my home to take off their shoes either. However, I wouldn't expect to walk into anyone's home in wellingtons or walking boots so would either not call in or I'd have my boots off before they could stop me and I only go with the dog to those homes where I know he is welcome. We are country folk, most of my local friends are very relaxed about their homes, they have cats and dogs running in and out, chickens in the garden and often a pony or two in a field next to the house. Two of my friends have free ranging goats, who are hilarious. These are not the homes for cream carpets and precious fabrics! My city/town friends tend to have much smarter homes but I've never been asked to remove my shoes, it would seem extremely rude to me, however, when we stay with friends I always have a pair of shoes usually ballerina flats, never slippers to wear indoors. We never wear slippers except in our own home when we are on our own, never ever when there are visitors and I've never seen any of my relations in slippers either!

We have a chair in our hall so that anyone wishing to take off their shoes may do so although I don't ask them to.
Whenever I visit someone else's house I always take my slipper with me, just in case I'm asked to take off my shoes.