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Post by katlady on May 21, 2023 17:36:33 GMT
I saw this on Yahoo this morning, that in a poll by CBS, 2/3rds of the Americans polled say they remove their shoes in the house. And 2/3rds say they do not ask guests to remove their shoes. But, what I thought was interesting was that 90% said that it is ok to ask guests to remove their shoes. I know we have discussed shoes in the house many times here. I feel like most responses here do not match this poll. I am mostly interesting in asking guests to remove shoes - Do you ask guests to remove their shoes? I separated American and Non-American responses because I know in other countries people do not wear shoes in the house. We do have guests that will ask us, since they know we are an Asian household. I leave it up to them. Not wearing shoes in the house is more of a comfort thing to me than a cleanliness issue. I hate wearing shoes. LOL! When I go to people's home, I will take my shoes off if others are doing it too. www.yahoo.com/lifestyle/most-americans-shoes-off-home-130000406.html |
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Post by gar on May 21, 2023 17:43:22 GMT
I answered No (non-American) but guests will sometimes/often ask if they should take off their shoes. You didn't include that option for non Americans  |
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Post by mom on May 21, 2023 17:49:55 GMT
I am surprised that 2/3 Americans remove their shoes in the house.
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Post by roundtwo on May 21, 2023 17:50:05 GMT
Well as you probably remember from previous discussions, the vast majority of Canadians remove their shoes indoors and guests just automatically do so. It is generally not the shoes themselves - often, especially if it is a fancier gathering, we bring indoor shoes to wear - it is more to keep the snow, slush, rain and mud outside.
I am like you - I generally don't like footwear, even outside, so taking shoes off inside is a no-brainer, lol.
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Post by katlady on May 21, 2023 17:52:05 GMT
answered No (non-American) but guests will sometimes/often ask if they should take off their shoes. You didn't include that option for non Americans Oops! Sorry about that!  I am surprised that 2/3 Americans remove their shoes in the house. I was too, especially based on past threads here. |
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milocat
Drama Llama
Posts: 5,899 
Location: 55 degrees north in Alberta, Canada
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Post by milocat on May 21, 2023 17:53:11 GMT
Canadian here. I don't ask, I've never been asked. Everyone just takes them off. We take them off in some public places too, the doctor's office, school, some offices.
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dawnnikol
Prolific Pea
'A life without books is a life not lived.' Jay Kristoff
Posts: 9,460
Sept 21, 2015 18:39:25 GMT
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Post by dawnnikol on May 21, 2023 17:53:52 GMT
We started taking our shoes off in the garage when we had a crawler. It especially skeeved me out when they'd come over and put their shoes on top of the coffee table. Wouldn't you know it was DH's parents who had the hardest time doing this? When my DDs were a little older, we had them make signs to post on the door you come in through our garage to enter the house that says "Remove your shoes" or "No Shoes please" and that would remind them before they got into the house. We even have a shoe rack set up for people to put them on before they enter the house, even though we don't have babies on the floor anymore. It still just skeeves me out.
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Post by mymindseyedpea on May 21, 2023 17:58:08 GMT
I’m not sure which one to pick.
We don’t wear shoes in the house in this family but guests do.
And we are American.
If I’m at a guests house and I notice shoes in the front and everyone has their shoes off I will just remove mine too.
I grew up in a family where we took our shoes off too.
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Post by mymindseyedpea on May 21, 2023 18:03:06 GMT
Canadian here. I don't ask, I've never been asked. Everyone just takes them off. We take them off in some public places too, the doctor's office, school, some offices. I think here (United States) it’s illegal to take shoes off in public places? Either that or you get kicked out. That would be very interesting to go to school in socks. Can you be barefoot too? |
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Post by katlady on May 21, 2023 18:14:26 GMT
Canadian here. I don't ask, I've never been asked. Everyone just takes them off. We take them off in some public places too, the doctor's office, school, some offices. I think here (United States) it’s illegal to take shoes off in public places? Either that or you get kicked out. That would be very interesting to go to school in socks. Can you be barefoot too? Not illegal, though you can be denied services if you are barefooted in the U.S. Like, restaurants can kick you out. In Hawaii, there are schools, especially pre-schools, that have a no shoes policy. My nieces and nephews had to take their shoes/slippers off when they entered the classroom in pre-school. And when we looked at new homes in Hawaii, you had to take off your shoes. |
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Post by leannec on May 21, 2023 18:15:19 GMT
I'm Canadian and it is automatic to remove your shoes here ... I think that is because our climate means that your shoes are dirty/wet/muddy/snowy for nine months of the year ... We don't have to ask, people just do it ... Even delivery guys remove their shoes! |
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Post by leannec on May 21, 2023 18:16:23 GMT
And when we looked at new homes in Hawaii, you had to take off your shoes. You definitely take your shoes off to view a home here in Canada ... |
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Post by Linda on May 21, 2023 18:17:01 GMT
I don't ask guests - some automatically take theirs off, some don't...I'm good either way.
I used to be a never wear shoes unless I absolutely had to...now I'm an always wear shoes because of plantar fascitis and neuropathy. I do tend to wear different shoes inside than away from home.
I think it can be hard for some people to manage the shoes off/back on process and hard for others to stand/walk without their shoes. And it's not always obvious who that is so extending grace where one can is kind
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Post by myshelly on May 21, 2023 18:19:12 GMT
The vast majority of guests to my house are my kids’ friends and I don’t feel bad telling kids to take off their shoes to play here.
My kids have music teachers who come once a week and the first time they came they all asked “are you a shoe or no shoe household?”
I feel like the polite thing to do is look at the feet of the people who live there and if they are barefoot, you know to take off your shoes at the door.
The only people I do not ask to remove their shoes are my elderly relatives who were orthopedic medically necessary footwear or devices.
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Post by mymindseyedpea on May 21, 2023 18:30:36 GMT
I think here (United States) it’s illegal to take shoes off in public places? Either that or you get kicked out. That would be very interesting to go to school in socks. Can you be barefoot too? Not illegal, though you can be denied services if you are barefooted in the U.S. Like, restaurants can kick you out. In Hawaii, there are schools, especially pre-schools, that have a no shoes policy. My nieces and nephews had to take their shoes/slippers off when they entered the classroom in pre-school. And when we looked at new homes in Hawaii, you had to take off your shoes. Yes it wouldn’t surprise me with preschool. At the preschool I went to it we probably did and it was at the persons house. And they were from another country. I wish I knew which one because the food was amazing. |
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Post by KikiPea on May 21, 2023 18:30:53 GMT
No. We don’t even remove ours.
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luckyexwife
Pearl Clutcher
Posts: 3,070
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Post by luckyexwife on May 21, 2023 18:33:10 GMT
I think this is another regional thing.
We remove out shoes, and everyone I know does as well.
I've never had to ask anyone, they always remove them at the door. The exception so far has just been my dad, when he was sick and needed them on.
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Post by peano on May 21, 2023 18:41:25 GMT
We don’t ask people to remove their shoes, but I typically do because I’ve walked the dog and my shoes are wet and muddy a good part of the year. And because I love the way my sheepskin slides feel on my bare feet.
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Post by Lexica on May 21, 2023 18:43:59 GMT
Well as you probably remember from previous discussions, the vast majority of Canadians remove their shoes indoors and guests just automatically do so. It is generally not the shoes themselves - often, especially if it is a fancier gathering, we bring indoor shoes to wear - it is more to keep the snow, slush, rain and mud outside. I am like you - I generally don't like footwear, even outside, so taking shoes off inside is a no-brainer, lol. Now that I am living where it is either snowing or more likely raining in the winter months, I did purchase one of those rubber shoe mats to put by the front door. I bought it for my own wet and/or muddy shoes, but the first few people to come over automatically took their shoes off because they had mud on their shoes too and they could see that my wood floors were in the process of being refinished. I really appreciated that. I put it up now that I assume the rains are over for a while, but will put it back out at the first rain. And if someone enters on a rainy day, I will ask the to put their muddy shoes on the mud mat. I have several pairs of new, unused socks that I will put into a decorative box near the door and will probably pick up some generic slippers for others to use too. In California, this was never an issue because we rarely got any wet weather. |
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Post by Neisey on May 21, 2023 18:53:31 GMT
I think here (United States) it’s illegal to take shoes off in public places? Either that or you get kicked out. That would be very interesting to go to school in socks. Can you be barefoot too? Not illegal, though you can be denied services if you are barefooted in the U.S. Like, restaurants can kick you out. In Hawaii, there are schools, especially pre-schools, that have a no shoes policy. My nieces and nephews had to take their shoes/slippers off when they entered the classroom in pre-school. And when we looked at new homes in Hawaii, you had to take off your shoes. I’m in Canada so you can guess that we remove shoes. I’m not a stickler is your footwear is clean and dry, but our weather doesn’t allow this to happen for 1/2 the year. I did want to comment on the school policy mentioned above. Here firefighters inspecting my workplace have said we should ensure all children in daycare, school, children’s programs, etc. wear shoes. In the case of the evacuation for fire drill for other reasons, you want to make sure you have footwear to protect your feet, especially since we have very cold temperatures and snowy/wet weather. That’s why you will often hear people asking “are those your indoor shoes or outdoor?” as we all grew up that way lol. |
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Deleted
Posts: 0
Aug 18, 2025 19:45:22 GMT
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Post by Deleted on May 21, 2023 18:57:52 GMT
We never ask guests to remove their shoes. However, we only have one rug where we host guests. We can sweep and mop easily before and after their visit.
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Just T
Drama Llama
Posts: 6,145
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Post by Just T on May 21, 2023 19:01:11 GMT
I always take off my shoes in the house because for some reason, I don't like wearing them in the house. But I don't care if others wear shoes. My husband is the complete opposite--for him, putting on shoes is part of getting dressed. I don't have shoes on in the house unless I'm getting ready to leave, and I usually take them off as soon as I walk in the door.
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Post by scrapmaven on May 21, 2023 19:04:21 GMT
Dh is Japanese, though born here. Everyone who comes to the house just assumes that we don't wear shoes in the house and we don't. I never ask anyone to take off their shoes, but always appreciate it when they do. It's just a habit after all of these years.
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Post by BSnyder on May 21, 2023 19:16:42 GMT
We don’t wear shoes in to house. When the kids had friends over, if they didn’t remove their shoes (most did), the kids would say something like, “just leave your shoes at the door.” Most adults notice and automatically take their shoes off. We don’t ask them to if they don’t.
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Post by pantsonfire on May 21, 2023 19:42:53 GMT
We remove our shoes but do not ask guests to. We all just prefer to be in socks or barefoot.
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Post by christine58 on May 21, 2023 19:51:09 GMT
If you have someone in your house that is immune compromised, shoes should come off at the door. When I would visit a friend whose daughter had had a stem cell transplant, shoes were left outside the door. Lots of germs are carried on our shoes.
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Post by Jennifer C on May 21, 2023 20:04:57 GMT
We remove our shoes and wear crocs in the house if needed.
We also have a basket by the door with slippers for guests.
So far, no one has objected, but my mom did say that it was because we offer slippers and socks.
Jennifer
ETA I buy guest slippers from Amazon. I do keep them and throw them in a bag then the washer.
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Post by birukitty on May 21, 2023 20:12:31 GMT
I consider myself half American/half German. I remove my shoes as soon as I get home and wear what I call "house shoes". Most of the time that's a pair of Birkenstocks that I only wear in the house. I'm married to an American and have an American son. They don't do this. They just wear their shoes in the house, but that's how I was raised by my German mother and it's how I feel most comfortable.
I don't ask guests to remove their shoes when they visit.
Wasn't sure how to answer your poll because of the half situation.
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Post by roundtwo on May 21, 2023 20:16:47 GMT
That’s why you will often hear people asking “are those your indoor shoes or outdoor?” as we all grew up that way lol. And make sure they have non-marking soles...  |
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Post by lisae on May 21, 2023 20:40:21 GMT
Until we got LVT flooring, I always went barefoot or in sock feet in the house. LVT flooring has many positive features but it is hard. I thought it would have a cushiony feel like laminate but no. So now I wear slip on shoes in the house except upstairs which has carpet. I seldom wear the house shoes outside so they stay clean. I do not ask guests to remove their shoes.
The only two households who have ever asked me to take my shoes off in her house was 1) a British woman I used to visit regularly in my teens and 20's. It was their custom and I was certainly fine with it. And 2) a customer of a business I was representing. I took my shoes off for the customer but explained that our installers could not do that as it would not be safe for them to be up and down ladders in sock feet. She accepted that.
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