Taking shoes off before you come inside your house

Many years ago my husband and myself were invited to a work colleagues house - they were newlyweds - it was a rainy night and at the front door the couple indicated to us to go round to the back door. We were asked to take our shoes off because in their lounge was a new off-white carpet. They were the only people to ask us to do this and we thought it rather rude. That was our only visit. Live and let live. We have been brought up to take care of our homes.

I really dislike the idea of taking off my shoes in someone else's house. The only time I've been asked to do it was when viewing a house when moving. I find it very uncomfortable to walk around without shoes and lace ups are difficult to do up without anywhere to sit to do it. At home I have indoor and outdoor shoes.

I have no friends from well off to ordinary who have ever taken their shoes off when visiting or asked me to
I used to do a lot of entertaining and a lot was with overseas folk too, no one has ever done that
When I visit in laws in London areas no one has ever asked me to take my shoes off and I ve never seen anyone do it

I must walk in very different circles to a lot on here

I never ask anyone to take their shoes off, but most people offer to do it out of courtesy. We don't have carpets downstairs anyway. We keep slippers at our children's houses, but when we visit friends I take a pair of flat slip on shoes that never see the outside - they are kept solely for that use. I started doing this when a friend said to me that she would sooner see someone in their stocking feet than walking around her house in carpet slippers!

As a family we all remove shoes in each other's houses but I would not demand guests remove their shoes.
When you have babies and children you want the floor not to be covered in dirt from outside shoes.

My ex Hubsand is Japanese and I lived in Japan for 18 months.
Outdoor shoes were removed at the door and slippers put on.
It would have been inconceivable that any one would wear shoes in the house.
Fast forward and we are living in the UK. We (two children by now) removing our shoes before coming into the house, was second nature. I still take off my outdoor shoes when I come into the house. Having said that, I am now on my own, and friends don't remove their shoes when they come into my home. I'd rather they did, but I'm not going to make a fuss.

Manners are about ensuring people are comfortable and feel welcome, not about making sure your carpets keep clean.

Exactly how I feel, foxie48.

I remember when we were looking to move house and were viewing one particular house, being asked to remove our shoes as well as put on those blue overshoe things. There was also a plastic sheet up the hallway and on what we were told was a walkway through the living areas plus the furniture was covered in plastic sheeting like they use in garages to stop oil from overalls getting on the upholstery. We didn't buy that house mostly because we could hardly hear ourselves speak over the rustling of all that plastic!

BlueBelle

I have no friends from well off to ordinary who have ever taken their shoes off when visiting or asked me to
I used to do a lot of entertaining and a lot was with overseas folk too, no one has ever done that
When I visit in laws in London areas no one has ever asked me to take my shoes off and I ve never seen anyone do it

I must walk in very different circles to a lot on here

Me too

Me too.

If I visit someone, I ask if they would like me to remove my shoes and I do as they request.

If people come to my home, I do not ask them to remove their shoes. Many of them do though.

If it was filthy weather and their shoes were covered in mud, I would perhaps say something if they traipsed all over my home in them but, quite honestly, this has never happened.

I am easygoing about whether or not people have shoes on in my home.

We rarely use our front door, if I do I take my shoes off on the outside door mat step into the house then retrieve my shoes.
We generally come in through the sunroom where we keep our slippers.
However if we have visitors and they offer to take their shoes off that's fine we'll say yes. If not, no matter.

Yes we have always removed our shoes and the children were taught to do it too from a young age.
Now they are grown up with their own homes and families, they still take outdoor shoes off.

Most of my friends are the same and we tend to take slippers when visiting each other’s homes.

I have noticed workmen are increasingly using the slip on overshoes.

I was not brought up to remove shoes and have never done so in my own house. I too have a son in law who prefers guests to remove shoes . I am happy to do this when I visit although I am not comfortable walking in stocking feet or in slippers. Don't feel secure / safe without the support of shoes. Ok when visiting people but not for me in my own house.

His house, his rules! Yes we always take shoes off at the front door, All our family do

Ha! That’s the opposite way around to my DIL. My son living in NZ commented all his new ‘kiwi’ friends and in-laws request shoes off and, as another poster said, all have a basket of slippers at the door. DIL has now made this the rule in their home as they want to put their baby on the floor without worrying about germs from shoes outside. Seems sensible to me but with dogs and a DH that is stuck in his ways I’d be fighting a losing game.

This got me thinking. Quite interesting to read people's opinions. As I mentioned earlier, it just doesn't happen in my world. I'd be horrified if someone tried taking their shoes off to come in my house.

Anyway, I did a spot of googling and spotted this article with fors and against. I know it's the Mail but quite interesting to see different points of view.

I'm with Lucy Cavendish. I'm often in rather wealthy people's homes which are possibly filthy to some here!

www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-7156441/Is-asking-guests-shoes-house-proud-social-horror.html

Also this is totally incorrect

'Would you mind taking off your shoes?' No one — friend, acquaintance or the man who's come to fix the boiler — would dream of saying 'No'.

Any professional gas man, ( I know one rather well) would refuse to remove shoes. They are safety shoes and have to be worn at all times. As has been mentioned upthread many gas engineers etc have shoe covers for those who want them.

Funnily enough, most people don't want them to bother though.

Thirty or more years ago here in UK it was regarded as weird to ask visitors to take off outdoor shoes. I thought it was now very widespread and am surprised how many posters still find it unusual.
In the mid 1900s many schools expected pupils to have indoor shoes to change into, especially in the winter. This was when outdoor shoes for both boys and girls were lace ups, wellingtons when wet, and sandals in the summer. Trainers didn’t appear until the 1970s and choice of footwear was far more limited than today.

Thank you Bluebelle I was beginning to feel in the minority.

I have been in some Asian homes - (but not all) and been asked to remove my shoes which I'm happy to do.

In general I wouldn't even think about it. Maybe I should start asking.

My DM was shocked when she visited someone's home & was asked to do this.

It is the normal thing to do here in Canada,pretty much everyone coming into a home automatically remove their shoes. It’s rare that someone would come in and not remove their shoes. When we first came to live here I found it very strange but now it’s just a normal way of life.

I like shoes off and do so at hone and when I visit, but never ask visitors to, very pleased if they offer.

Perhaps it’s a class thing (thick light coloured expensive carpets) My son has an exceptionally beautiful house in NZ but taking shoes off has never come up at all nor when we visited his in-laws there
It isn’t a generational thing because I often visit younger peoples houses and have never been asked and obviously if you go in together after a trip out you would follow what they do and they haven’t
When I visited Russia we put overshoes on in public buildings with beautiful floors but I was hosted in a number of different family homes where we weren’t expected to
Middle Eastern homes always do

I have a door mat which people use

It’s very Hyacinth Bouquet.

It was different at school, where there were very many feet potentially wrecking the nice floors. We were forever changing our shoes. Outdoor shoes to indoor shoes, indoor shoes to gym shoes, back to indoor shoes, then outdoor shoes for break, then lacrosse boots, then back to indoor shoes......it seemed endless. I don’t think my sons had to do this.

Yes we have been taking our shoes off in the hallway/porch for many years. I suppose it started when we moved abroad in the late seventies where it's done always. We provide slippers for any visitors who come to our house and most people know this is our habit. It just makes sense to me and saves alot of cleaning and worry about what bugs might be coming in on outdoor shoes.
Anyone who doesn't, I would suggest you try it, you won't regret it!