Pressing shoes indoors survey

Do you take your shoes off and encourage visitors to do the same in your house?

 

Obviously, I wear slippers in my own house, but I wouldn't dream of asking guests to do the same. Imagine the King asking that of visiting dignitaries to Buckingham Palace. 

It depends on my  house. If a large house with old carpets and floorboards I would not remove shoes.

if it’s smaller and carpeted would remove my shoes. 

i would not ask a guest to remove shoes unless we had been through mud. 

Leaving aside the cluster fvck of the past 10 years during which the UK has squandered whatever edge it had over its European peers, I think it’s time to wake up and smell the coffee on a few things that the British just don’t do right:

- shoes indoors - of course not, you nutter (literally no one anywhere in the world who resides in something other than a mud hut thinks this is ok or normal) 

- carpets inside bathrooms (and in particular next to/ under the porcelain bowl itself) - WTF!

- TV dinners / eating on the sofa - WTF!

- separate dual taps (one for hot and one for cold water) - they look cool, granted, but have zero practical utility and lead to all kinds of scolding mishaps 

 

 

 

 

it is true that forriners often have a strange fetish about taking shoes off.    Its an especial pain in the summer when you are drifting between the fridge and the garden.

shoes off here

we had some neighbours aware of this rule who came over recently, announced to nobody that “oh our shoes are clean” and then STOMPED INSIDE THE HOUSE avec shoes on

they are not coming back

the emerging markets aversion to shoes is to do with cultural resonance in countries where it has within living memory been, and in some cases still is, materially likely that the streets are covered in shit of man, dog and other beast.

Generally don’t wear shoes indoors but if I’ve already got them on to go out and realise I’ve forgotten something I won’t take them off again. Guests usually offer to take them off so I say ok. I wouldn’t make someone take their shoes off unless they were clearly filthy. 

King Canute, I can go one better than a TV dinner: I raise you TV dinner in bed! Be horrified.

Also, I'm not in favour of wearing shoes inside (grew up wearing shoes or slippers in my own freezing cold home though, would put them on at the bottom of the stairs when coming down for breakfast). I do however generally go out in the garden without shoes in the Summer, and then come back in with bare or socked slightly muddy feet.

Sue me.

Given that Saildog potters in and out in all weathers me taking my shoes off would make no material difference to how muddy my floors are.  Sailcat also has a tendency to leave muddy footprints on the kitchen table.

If  you've been to somewhere where it's normal to take shoes off you'll do it e.g. Japan, India.  Seems so dirty if you don't.

My in laws have a slipper hate thing going on and insist on tramping around in their shoes - bedrooms, bathrooms etc, Just urgh.

Iranian husband = we are very much shoes orf. The fact that our entire meagre savings are in rugs lying around on the floor helps me get over the cringe factor when asking guests.

I do have naice freshly washed slippers by the front door...

People can do as they please when stopping at mine, most take them off unless flying by. I would be embarassed and nervous about asking people to remove footwear.

I always remove footwear when visiting other peoples homes, far more comfy.

* slippers are rank and pointless.

As my thread has shown there are slipper fans here.  So good in the winter when you come back from walking the dog after work and won't be going out again and need to warm up cold feet.

Slippers are fkin great so with apologies for the tangent where can I find some good ones? And by good I want cosy with a proper back rather than some slip-on nonsense? All my recent pairs have been terrible. 

I think solely because of Canadian winters being a slushy muddy salty affair, everyone in Canada takes their shoes off at the front door and it feels very odd when people in England wear outdoor shoes around the house

Unless they've said it's okay, it's absolutely revolting and impolite to walk all over someone's home smearing it with god-knows-what-crap you've stomped on in the street.

Happy to sock it out in someone else's house. Being provided with visitor slippers is v fooking weird. I like to travel with my own slippers. Which is also v fooking weird. 

Forriner here. Shoes stay on. Ours and our guests too. If guests want to take off their shoes, I'd find that weird and they will also get sand and dog hairs on their socks/feet. Nobody in my family or circle of friends will ask people to take off their shoes. 

Look sails, Sizzcat wipes his feet and then licks em clean after he's been outside. If humans are willing to do that with their shoes, they can leave them on too. I'm nothing if not fair.

Shoes off- it’s a cultural thing and drummed into me and siblings since the beginning. I would feel very wrong walking around someone else’s house with my shoes on. 

@Canute:

No-one in my family and almost no-one in my now-quite-lengthy life has asked me to take my shoes off when I enter a house. 

Thus I refute your point about 'literally no-one except people in mud huts'.

one of the former mrs clubmen insisted on this.  whilst it wasn't THE reason we split up it certainly reflected HER ABSOLUTELY BATSHIT FVCKING CRAZY APPROACH TO LIFE which was probably why we split up

I think worse of people who actually ask guests to take shoes off.   On the other hand if a guest observes none of the household is wearing shoes then it is polite to take them off.    It is not however something it is polite to order a guest to do.

Nah sorry m8 my house my rules. It's hardly an inconvenience to do so and if your shoes run even the smallest risk of fvcking up the flooring you can take them off when politely requested to do so. The scandinavians have the right approach here.

" ...what kinda weirdo brings slippers to wear at other folks’ homes..."

Russian women visiting friends in Russia. They travel on the bus and walk up the path in their boots, then when they are hanging up their coats they also change into their indoor slippery dressy shoes.

This is weird. I just had this thought, posted a thread for the first time in ages and saw there was one on the topic about three threads down. You can ignore mine.

I have tile floors throughout the house. 
 

All my guests take their shoes off without being asked. Other than my father who is unable to take his shoes off without sitting down so he walks to a chair and then removes them. 
 

In rural Australia it is considered horribly rude to walk in someone’s house with your shoes on. 
 

usually because you will have animal shit of some sort on your shoes. 
 

 

I require guests to take their shoes off.

I couldn't care less what other people do in their houses.

The pearl-clutching attribution of social signifiers to anyone's preference in this is, by the way, fantastically bourgeois. 

"...what kinda weirdo brings slippers to wear at other folks’ homes..."

Our neighbour asked us to do this. I assumed it's because she's Russian and so I obliged.

Foreigners get a pass from the general rule that removing one's shoes is non-U. 

"In rural Australia it is considered horribly rude to walk in someone’s house with your shoes on. 

usually because you will have animal shit of some sort on your shoes."

Different rules apply in civilised countries.