Right up there with breastfeeding, circumcision, and politics is this hot button issue: Shoes in the house or no?
Personally, I'm a "shoes are OK" kind of person. I understand it keeps your house cleaner to not wear them, and my family generally ditches shoes indoors. But when people come to my house, I want them to be comfortable, and if that means keeping their shoes on, they can go right on ahead.
To my great surprise, JoAnn from Bensonhurst agrees with me. In this latest episode of her show, she tackles all kinds of cleaning questions from viewers, including the shoe question. Check out what she has to say in the video, after the jump.
To illustrate her point: "I'll never, ever forget the first time I met my in-laws. There I was, a nice 20-something from a nice family who just so happened to allow the wearing of shoes indoors, meeting my very promising boyfriend's parents for the first time. And upon meeting me, instead of 'It's so nice to meet you, our son has been telling us a lot about you' or even 'Hi,' the very first words my future MIL spoke to me was to bark 'SHOES OFF' when I walked through the door. Sigh."
I'm with JoAnn. You can clean when they leave -- let your guests be comfortable. If it's wet or muddy outside, or if I'd been tromping around their garden, I would certainly ask if someone preferred I ditch my shoes. To me, wearing slippers, stocking feet or going barefoot are for close family and intimate friends; padding around someone's house in your socks is like showing up in your bathrobe. Do what you want for your family, but let guests keep their feet covered! Listen to JoAnn, people:
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Do you make guests remove their shoes?
Image via CafeMom Studios
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Comments 59
BUT if I owned my house and had brand new carpet, I absolutely would have no problem telling guests "would you mind removing your shoes" and anytime I visit someone I go ahead and ask, "would you like me to remove my shoes?" I think that is the polite thing to do, so it doesn't put your host in an awkward position. Shoes are disgusting and especially with small kids I understand wanting to keep the floors clean.
For religious reasons.
I pray anywhere in my home, so it has to be kept clean. Shoes drag in all kinds of stuff! So shoes come off at the door!
I don't want someone who was in the Walmart bathroom to be walking through my house with those shoes on. I think wearing your shoes in the house when you've walked in some icky places is just gross. I wouldn't ask someone to take theirs off but it grosses me out big time and it's hard not to think about it. It's a huge pet peeve.
I work in the HVAC industry and I'm in and out of peoples houses everyday. If I get a foot injury while I'm in a house and I didn't have my shoes on, workmen's comp. will not cover the injury. So I supply shoe covers to all my employees that way the house stays clean or in some cases, my employees shoes keep clean. I even wear them at home if I'm only going in for a minute. www.shubee.com
Different people will have different opinion on this topic. I think this should be left on our guest, If they feel the need to wear off the shoes it's ok but if they just enter without giving a care to wear them off you can't just tell them to do so as it sounds really rude in my view. Seems more of like an order. I would definitly feel happy if the guests themselves wear the shoes off when they enter but i would never request them unless their shoes are really dirty like when someone comes suddenly in after a rain or some muddy place or so. It's always a good thing when guest themselves feel the need to wear off their shoes like it happens in Asian countries where its almost like a traditional culture to do so.
lordy, if you have floor issues then don't have guests...sigh... When I get dressed that includes shoes... I don't know what YOU"VE done on your floors so pardon me if I wear my shoes to protect MY feet... I have a dog/cat so what comes in on shoes isn't any different then what they bring in. Clean your floors sheesh ...you do it anyways...