Please Remove Shoes Before Entering?

Do you remove your shoes before entering your home? Some people forbid shoes in their homes, while others consider being asked to remove their shoes nothing short of offensive. I have friends with Please Remove Shoes Before Entering signs brazenly taped to their doors, while I have other friends who’d prefer to stay out of someone’s no-shoes-allowed home rather than be required to 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 five reasons for removing shoes before entering:

1. Comfort. I wear sensible shoes (mostly? sometimes?) 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.

Melissa Breyer, Senior Editor, Healthy & Green Living

Disclaimer: The views expressed above are solely those of the author and may not reflect those of
Care2, Inc., its employees or advertisers.

LMj S.

8:57PM PDT on May 22, 2013

Thank you.

May 22
send a green star

8:56PM PDT on May 22, 2013

Valentina R.

4:16PM PST on Mar 5, 2013

All excellent reasons to take your shoes off before entering the house.

March 5
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Lisa S.

7:57PM PST on Jan 28, 2013

I have thought about this topic alot & wish I had endeavored to attempt this years ago. It, makes so much sense, without sounding like a Howard Hughes germ freak!

January 28
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Brittany D.

6:46AM PST on Jan 28, 2013

I personally remove my shoes every time I walk inside the door. But to be forced to remove shoes when going to someone elses home really ticks me off. I have mobility issues and have trouble putting on shoes and taking them off. So I gave up trying to wear normal shoes. Now I only wear sandals that I can slip on and off easily when it's not snowing. But if there is snow I wear my velcro tennis shoes but I avoid going outside when it's snowing. So if I had to visit a friend or someone when it's snowing out I would remove my shoes but only because I didn't want to track snow inside. I still find it annoying - thank you snow! (sarcasm)

Teresa W.

8:42AM PST on Jan 25, 2013

Germs and dirt? Yes, that would be a perfect solution, but unfortunately it's impossible in a block of flats...

January 25
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Lenora S.

12:14AM PST on Jan 25, 2013

Not to mention all the germs and yuk under the shoes that you pick up while out walking,dont think it a good idea to go and clean it all off on the rugs and carpets,young children sit on the floor playing with their toys,that always end up in their mouths!! Please take off your shoes in my house.

Christine S.

9:40PM PST on Jan 24, 2013

If you are warned ahead of time that you will be asked to remove your shoes, then you can be sure to wear your good socks! (and I am a person who darns the holes in my socks rather than buy new ones- so no one would want to see me in my sewed up socks!)

January 24
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Lucille M.

9:14PM PST on Jan 24, 2013

I do not remove my shoes in anyone's house but my own. I do not allow anyone to remove their shoes in my house but me. I have a fungal infection that has so far resisted attempts to kill it and I refuse to be responsible for anyone contracting it from me.

I got it from my mother, by going barefoot in her house, when I was her caregiver, and she got it from buying shoes at a thrift store and wearing them without disinfecting them first.

So, before you get offended by someone refusing to remove their shoes, maybe you should consider the possibility that they are simply too embarrassed to tell you that they don't want to share their fungus with you.