Taking shoes off before you come inside your house

My SiL insisted everyone take their outdoor shoes off when entering the house. It was strange at first and as they had tiled floors very cold on the feet, especially in winter. Now I take my slippers as I like to respect their wishes but have comfy feet.
When they come to my house I don't ask they to remove shoes, but they do it anyway. I live in the country and have tiled floors which can get very muddy. but with a quick turn of the stream cleaner they are soon nice and shiny again, so no problem either way.

We have removed our shoes in the hallway all our married life. I don’t ask anyone to take their shoes off but 9 out of 10 visitors do so without comment. My 97 year old mother-in-law changes her shoes in the hallway and always has done so.
I take slippers/mules to her home when we visit.

All our children take off their shoes in their various homes. I can only think of one home I know where they don’t do it.

Interesting to read the different views.

Personally I think it’s good manners to at least attempt to take your shoes off especially if it’s a wet day outside, if the house owner says don’t worry then that’s fine.
Also if there are young children crawling and playing on the floor then definitely take shoes off.

I expect people who have animals sharing their living space are less inclined to be concerned about shoe wearing, also those without carpets as the floor is easily washed on a daily basis.
If you have fitted carpets it is unlikely that they are washed more than once a year so removal of outdoor shoes is a courtesy practised by most people I know.

I wouldn't dream of asking anyone to take off shoes. It's nothing to do with hygiene, unless you expect your friends to sit in the floor, and as far as manners go, I think it is their responsibility to wipe their feet, but rather rude to expect them to change shoes.

These days, unless you live on a farm, or your only visitors drop by after an off-path ramble, the chances of treading in animal droppings are slight. People pick up after their dogs and cats bury theirs. What else are you going to find on shoes?

I think it probably does have roots in a class thing, in that those with maids to do the cleaning didn't need to bother about things like that, and the less well-off had enough scrubbing and cleaning to do without making more work, but these days everyone has a vacuum cleaner, so it might be one of those handed down traditions that has lost its roots.

I can understand that if children are running in and out they might make a mess, but if someone asked me to take my shoes off I would wonder what else was part of their strange code of 'manners'. It would make me feel like Hyacinth's nervous friend who spilt her tea every time she was spoken to .

In short, I would rather live somewhere that people feel welcome than in a showhouse with nervous (or very few) visitors.

We don’t ask people to remove their shoes but we do and expect the children especially to do the same. We always take our shoes off at others people’s houses - when COVID rules allowed us in!! If we’re going to friends or family for the day then we always take slippers with us to wear in the house. Wasn’t something we did as children ourselves but think it’s the common thing to do now.

My husband hated doing this because 1/ he found it difficult to do anyway and 2/ his feet weren't in very good health! I never expect people to do it in my house though I do it elsewhere. I find it difficult when I am in my family's home overseas where it is standard because normally I wear insoles and feel off balance barefoot.

We have always removed shoes because we live in the countryside. I like to walk in slippers or barefoot and couldn’t bear to have dirt from outside on my feet. I taught children to do it too or they’d have run in in welly boots !

We don't ask people to do this, even in our last house where we had light coloured carpets. As others have suggested we think it is rude. We wouldn't stop people from doing it if it was wet and muddy outside, but in normal circumstances don't feel that it is necessary. We actually stopped visiting one friend who asked us to do this even in dry weather as she had hard floors so no risk of soiling carpets.
It is particularly annoying when you have dressed up (a bit!) to go somewhere for dinner and they want you to take your shoes off.

Only if they're muddy!! Lol

We have always taken our shoes off when entering our or anyone's house - all our guests and trades people do the same without being asked to.

I have all tiled floors so it's too cold for guests to go barefooted. When we visit others I keep a pair of slippers in the car as I'm not very sure-footed in stockinged feet

Our American friends living in the UK always ask visitors to remove their shoes . We met up with them yesterday for afternoon tea in their garden. They were dressed up to the nines, she in a very pretty dress and he in a new suit. I tried not to laugh when I saw them standing at their kitchen door with slippers abd hush puppy slippers on. They practice what they preach!

We take our shoes off each time we enter our house or any of the kids houses, they do the same too. It's the way they were brought up.

Usually but don't ask others to. We didn't used to but all our kids friends did 30 years ago so we got in the habit, have spare slippers at our kids houses, remember seeing on How Clean is your House many years ago what muck comes in on your shoes, dog wee etc so it's not a bad idea

Husband always does this when he comes in the front door but then proceeds to go out into the back garden wearing his slippers - so absolutely irrational. I never change my shoes unless I'm wearing boots which I consider to be outdoor clothing rather like the coat I take off when I come in but we do have good Turtle mats that pick up the dirt, and a grill at the front and back doors. We have friends who have a box of slippers at the door - don't go very often as I don't particularly want to put my feet in shoes worn by other people, and anyway they're dangerous on wooden floors, especially the laminate type which are slippy anyway. When I had carers for my mum they used to put blue disposable shoe coverings on when they arrived and took them off as they left. They kept the same ones in a cupboard until they ripped so they weren't immediately disposable. These things are easy to put on and take off so maybe you should buy a box and take a few with you when you visit your son. He has a right to keep his house clean (is this a covid thing?) but putting shoes on and off gets harder the older one becomes. It's about mutual respect I guess but also about ensuring the rule is maintained and not disregarded (i.e. like my hubby - slippers for the house and back garden!!).

Recently we had a new broadband service fitted and I noticed that the workman who came to do it put elasticated covers on his shoes when he came inside; that struck me as a very convenient alternative to taking shoes on and off.

We have a shoe rack in the hallway - when we come in, our outdoor shoes go straight on there, and we put slippers on. Visitors usually stay downstairs (and we have a downstairs toilet) so it's up to them - I would certainly ask them to remove their shoes if they went upstairs for any reason. I have a friend who insists on everyone removing their shoes when they arrive - I always take a pair of light slippers with me; I honestly don't mind. Why would she want to risk visitors treading in dirt, bacteria and animal droppings?? Don't blame her at all.

Interesting....I actually don't like people taking their shoes off in my house! Would much prefer that their hot sticky feet stayed in their shoes!

Not sure exactly when it started but certainly before our kids were very old, and it is routine fur family but most others ask if we would like them to do it. I think it is pretty common in Uk

We take ours off and have slippers in the passage area as well.
To be honest I have always been of the view that outside shoes are for outdoors.
I never expect the few guests that I have to take of their shoes but most do .You expect one to clean thoroughly on the mat but I notice this is not something that is done with as much vigour as previously.
Watch your children, grandchildren fly in .
workmen ask if they should.
There was that cleaning programme Aggy and another lady .
The things I learnt from that programme .

A lot of people here provide slippers - but I dislike the thought of wearing slippers someone else has worn. Are they washed between wearers?

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!

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.

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