Do you remove your shoes?

[Cherished]

Just thought I'd add that we only ever enter our house from the garage and I imagine loads of others are the same so that means that there isn't a pile of shoes at the front door Even if we did have to come and go through the front door I don't think I'd leave a pile of shoes at the entrance of my home even though we don't wear shoes inside, I also imagine there would be a BIG shoe pile in most houses if that were the case. So my point is that you can't assume people wear shoes in their house just because there isnt' a pile of shoes at the front door.

[RhiChiChi]

Yes, I do. If they tell me not to I will usually still do it b/c I actually don't like wearing shoes inside (my feet get hot & uncomfortable). I posted in that other thread that I usually take a pair of socks or slippers to wear.

[RhiChiChi]

I was just about to post the same as Cherished - we rarely use our front door & even if we did there could be no shoes there - I can't stand piles & piles of shoes at the front entrance of a house!

[hj1981]

Just thought I'd add that we only ever enter our house from the garage and I imagine loads of others are the same so that means that there isn't a pile of shoes at the front door Even if we did have to come and go through the front door I don't think I'd leave a pile of shoes at the entrance of my home even though we don't wear shoes inside, I also imagine there would be a BIG shoe pile in most houses if that were the case. So my point is that you can't assume people wear shoes in their house just because there isnt' a pile of shoes at the front door.

100% agree - we are the same

[Fleur]

I take mine off when visiting.
Visitors usually take them off at our place because we have that pile of shoes at the door. Not that it matter in our house, we just don't wear shoes at home. And no-one in our family could be bothered to put them in the cupboard that is right. next. to .the. front. door....

[fionas]

I really don't know anyone who doesn't wear their shoes at home so it just wouldn't occur to me to take them off. I probably wouldn't even click if they weren't wearing theirs either. So I guess they'd have to mention it. Relatively happy to take mine off if asked but I'd probably get a bit nervous in the house then and worry that my mere presence was going to dirty their home and I'd be conscious of my tea leaving a ring on their coffee table and all those other little things.

[Tinsel]

Just thought I'd add that we only ever enter our house from the garage and I imagine loads of others are the same so that means that there isn't a pile of shoes at the front door Even if we did have to come and go through the front door I don't think I'd leave a pile of shoes at the entrance of my home even though we don't wear shoes inside, I also imagine there would be a BIG shoe pile in most houses if that were the case. So my point is that you can't assume people wear shoes in their house just because there isnt' a pile of shoes at the front door.

The couple of houses we go to that are strictly no shoes have shoes piled up at the doors. Front and back. I don't go to too many strange houses so once you know the protocol - shoes or no shoes it shouldn't be an issue.

fionas - SIL is very particular about her house and I'm always on mess alert with the girls.

Fleur - we are the same. All of DD's shoes are in a lowline old bookcase in the hallway of our entrance as well as our gumboots and DH's boots.

[Diamond Girl]

Previously I didnt care less if people wore shoes in my home or not. We all wore shoes inside our house so it would have been a bit unfair to ask our guests to take theirs off.

Now however, we just moved into our brand new home which means brand new carpet and more importantly brand new $18k solid spotted gum timber flooring and there is no way any pair of shoes is coming into contact with them, lol. All our guests so far have just taken their shoes off of their own accord, I havent had to ask anyone yet. Even tradies that come to our home automatically take their shoes off. I like my new home to look like clean and tidy at all times (with the exception of the childrens playroom which always has toys strewn around). I wonder how long the no shoes policy will last though.

[trishalishous]

We always remove shoes, especially if the host opens the door barefoot!
Its cultural for DH to always remove shoes, and Im more comfortable barefoot

[peanutter]

I basically always leave shoes on, but I try to remember to look and see if my host is wearing shoes - and if they're not, I ask if it's a shoes-off house.

But I grew up in a shoes on house, as did DH, so we have to think about it intentionally.

And I'm never offended if people don't think to ask us!

But I don't like it when people walk with shoes on over DS's play mat, or rest shoes on our counch, coffee table, etc.

[Mother Goose]

My DH has a strict no shoes policy. I'm more relaxed about it we rent and have polished floor boards so we try to protect them by not wearing shoes. Our last house had boards and we always wore shoes, the boards got trashed. So we are conscious of the floors and politely ask people to remove shoes. Weson have a pike of shoes at the front door... Although on any given day you will find multiple pairs of dd's shoes strewn across the lounge room! DH and I take shoes off downstairs next to the garage but we insist on DD wearing hers on the stairs so she doesn't slip.

I couldn't care less about ring marks on my table etc because it is MY/OUR stuff. Nor am I a neat freak. But I try to care for our landlords!

[HotI]

We have stupid white carpet (who puts white carpet in when you live on a dirt road??) and don't wear shoes inside. Depending on what time of the year it is we are more consistent with asking people to remove their shoes. We get the carpets steam cleaned once a year, and if it just after then we are more consistent- just before, the carpets are no longer white anyway so we are more lax.

Not a neat freak about ring marks etc, just try to keep the carpets looking reasonable for as much of the year as poss.

[Boo Boo]

I've got a thing about wearing shoes inside, I just don't get why you would want to traipse all the gross outside stuff (dog sh*t, leaves, mud, tar, etc, etc) through your home, shoes are for outside in my opinion and I feel uncomfortable wearing shoes in someone elses house too. I don't care about other normally occurring mess just crap from shoes going on the floor.

[Shanti]

Yes I take mine off at the door. Unless they say to keep them on. I think it's polite

We take our shoes off before going upstairs into our house.

[Turkish Delight]

Its custom in our culture to take shoes off at the door, and we do in our home. I prefer to take them off at others as i feel uncomfortable with them on inside a house ITMS.

[Jellyfish]

Set your piggies free! Exploring naturally!...

I'm not a shoe fan so any excuse to go barefoot haha. I don't wear shoes at home and take mine off at other people's houses even when reassured I can leave them on if I want. Doesn't really bother me what people do at my place but most probably do take off their shoes because I'm one of those shoe pile at the apartment door people... oops!

[Now we're 3]

Oooppss feel embarassed now that I may have been offending people without even thinking of it as I would rarely think to take shoes off - unless of course they were dirty! - when going into someone elses house.

Have one friends house that I go to that I automatically take my shoes off as their shoes are neatly laid beside the door but in all my others friends houses don't bother. Its funny though as don't think those friends remove their shoes when they come to ours - lol! In saying that once in and if we were going to be there for while I'd often take my shoes off but then more for comfort rather than anything else! Hadn't really thought about it before.

Just depends on the time of day and time of year as to whether i've got shoes on or not. Eitherway we've a big mat right inside our door so most people wipe their feet when they come in which gets rid of most of the dirt! Unfortunately the dog who brings in most of the crud - hasn't quite got the knack of wiping his paws on it as he launches himself in through the door

[peanutter]

I'm such a shoes and socks person. I don't own thongs. I have some slippers, but that's about as naked as my tootsies get.

That being said, lots of my friends (including most from asian cultures) are strict shoes off people - and I was chatting about this with one of them.

She referred me to a clip on youtube some friends of her brother made ... go to youtube and then search "Shoes in Asian Homes" and find their clip ... very funny