http://www.care2.com/greenliving/please-remove-shoes-before-entering.html
Please Remove Shoes Before Entering?
Melissa Breyer, Senior Editor, Healthy & Green Living
Do you remove your shoes before entering your home? It’s amazing how such a subtle topic can become such cause for controversy! Some people forbid shoes in their homes, while others consider being asked to remove their shoes nothing short of offensive. In my neck of the woods, an artsy neighborhood in Brooklyn, I have friends with Please Remove Shoes Before Entering signs brazenly taped to their doors, while I have other friends who’d rather stay out of someone’s no-shoes-allowed home rather than expose their socks.
Much of it has to do with cultural tradition. In many places across the globe removing shoes before entering is a deeply ingrained practice. As a kid growing up in southern California, I always entered the house in socks. Although not because we had a rule about shoes, rather my preferred style of footwear had wheels attached and roller skates were tricky on the carpet. But somehow I evolved, over time, into an adult who doesn’t wear shoes inside. For me it started off as a matter of comfort, but upon further reflection it has become reinforced by a number of other factors. Here are my top five reasons for removing my shoes before entering:
1. Comfort. I wear sensible shoes (mostly) but no matter how comfortable my shoes are, my feet are always happier outside of them. I want to be comfortable at home. I want to take off my shoes as soon as I walk in, the same way I might want to take off a pair of tight jeans. My home is my haven, it’s hard to relax in your sanctuary wearing knee-high boots.
2. Toxins. An EPA study, reported in Environmental Science & Technology provided the first proof that pesticides can be tracked into residences on shoes. People and pets who walk on pesticide-treated lawns can pick up pesticides like the herbicide 2,4-D, for up to a week after application, the study showed. The study found that “track-in” exposures of pesticides may exceed those from the best-known source–pesticide residues on non-organic fresh fruits and vegetables. Another study showed that 98 percent of lead dust found in homes is tracked in from outside as well.
3. Happy Neighbors. If you live in an apartment building, no shoes makes much happier downstairs neighbors. Especially downstairs neighbors with a really cute little girl who is a light sleeper. (Hi Olivia!)
4. Germs. This one may have more to do with neurosis than actual facts–but living in an urban environment and seeing all the disgusting things that end up on the sidewalk? Yuck. I definitely don’t want to track pesticides and lead paint in, but neither am I interested in tracking in dog waste and other bodily fluids thank you very much.
5. Dirt. I live in a converted 19th century convent that still has boot scrapers by both entrances. (Did 19th-century nuns wear boots?) We have paved roads now so dirt and mud may be less of an issue, but toxins and germs aside, shoes still manage to track in plenty of plain old grime. Why would I want to perform extra cleaning when simply leaving shoes at the door makes such a difference in the cleanliness of my floor?
So that’s my take on removing shoes. I have a bookshelf right inside my door where my kids and I kick off our shoes first thing. I never insist on guests removing their shoes, but I would say that nine out of ten do so automatically when they see our bare feet and the shoe shelf.
Here’s my question for you: Do you remove your shoes inside, or do you prefer shoes on indoors? I want to hear from both sides of the fence, and why. Bare your soles (I’m sorry) in the comment field!
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178 comments
add your comment »Sounds logical! Also, those with pets running around the rugs/bathroom floors will just add to the bacteria your feet will pick up. Oh, but remember that those with pets running around do not have dirty feet (at least according to their masters). Overall it does seem to me that those homeowners demanding that guests remove their shoes (who have pets)need to read this entire blog and reconsider their "no shoes in house" tradition as it is somewhat lopsided.
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I have bunions and arthritis in both feet. I simply cannot walk without padded shoes...socks don't do it. I feel bad if I am in a "no shoes house" but I would have to limp for a few minutes and then be immobile for the rest due to pain. The no shoes people have to take things like this into consideration. I also would not like to walk around in their bathrooms while barefoot. They don 't exactly mop the floors daily... think of what I could be walking in...
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hi there,
thank you so much for this article i've always said that someone should speak about it , my family and i do take our shoes off at home and its somehow forbidden to walk-in with your shoes on, i dont know why its such a big deal to ask your guests to take off their shoes, its like if am insulting them or "they are not good or clean enough to enter my house" its nothing to do with that, i just want to keep my house clean, actually my parents house i still live with them but i've decided when i get my own house i will have the friendly "please take off your shoes and you'll find slippers inside"sign, i hope the guests i have will be more open-minded and understand its more about the health and a cleaner house, thank you so much again and if you have any more ideas or tips please enlighten us.
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Ane: Sounds good; however, what is your take on the host who maintains the "shoes off doctrine" for humans but allows their pet canines to run free in the residence: considering all I have said previously on this topic?
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I'm scandinavian and we're in league with the japanese: No shoes in the house, it's just polite. You show a person respect by respecting their home. Plus you can put your feet up on the couch, hehe ;)
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Gerardo: a lot of merit to your feelings on this issue. Yes, I generally refrain from revisting anyone that requires shoes off at their domain: seems almost as if they consider their home as a palace. But then they allow their pet dogs to roam the abode slinging their genitals, feet, and drool all over the floor, furniture, and such? Doesn't make sense to me.
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If our shoes are obivous dirty,mud,poopoo or whatever, Makes sense to remove shoes. I like a clean home, all tile, if I envite people to my home, never ask them to remove. When someone insist removal of my shoes, I don't go in, being there done that, never went to that person's home, thier personality sucked. IF a pet needs to be inside, otherwise they belong outside. the inside air is bad enough as it is, animals inside contribute more unhealthy air. ( don't get me wrong, I love dogs)
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Case in point is this: a family member and others that I associate with employ this "shoes off" policy for their well kept abodes. Human visitors must remove their shoes to enter their house; however, they have several dogs (house dogs) that reside there and as I sit there shoeless I discern these pets lying with their private parts on their floor (rugs, tiles, etc.). It especially soaks in (no pun intended) when the pet just returned from a "potty break" from their being taken outside. The pets are escorted inside and begin to lounge all over the house, couch, floors, etc.
Oh, I guess this is okay for the pet; however, the human friends must purge themselves of their shoes which carry unspeakable bacteria? Something is wrong with this picture? I'd like to hear from some that enforce this policy but still allow their pets to perform as mentioned above.
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I should take my shoes off because I have light colored carpet... But I don't and this is most likely due to laziness. I just don't want to. I keep rugs on the floor in the high traffic areas to eliminate some of the stains, but with 5 dogs and a cat... What's the use!? They track in dirt, mud, worms, and whatever they've been rolling in so I've given up. I have a pair of inside-only flip-flops that I wear around the house because my floor is dirty and, to be quite honest, there are better things I could be doing than sweeping, mopping, and vacuuming 3 times a week.
If I have a choice in the future I will not have carpet anywhere (I think it's dirty) and then again, with dogs, I don't think I'll care if people take their shoes off or not.
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I agree that it is simply more comfortable barefoot. My shoes comes off first thing in my sanctuary too.
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