Am I the only person who thinks it is disgusting to wear shoes inside the house?

This is a follow up to my last question regarding in-laws who will not remove their shoes in my house.





Is it only me who thinks it is disrespectful and unsanitary to wear shoes inside the house?





It skeeves me just to think of how filthy a house may be when people track their dirty shoes in and out. I mean seriously... What if someone stepped in dog feces and then rubbed it in on the carpet where your kids play?

Am I the only person who thinks it is disgusting to wear shoes inside the house?
Ugh. I am right there with you. I%26#039;ll make exceptions once in a blue moon - I%26#039;m not obsessive about it - but I have new carpet. If you look at the floor right in front of the front door where I have people take their shoes off, and compare it to the floor in the rest of the house, you will immediately see why I have a no-shoes policy. I mean, I don%26#039;t have kids playing on the carpet and I don%26#039;t really see it as disrespectful (unless the person knows you have that rule and chooses to disobey it), but it%26#039;s common sense. I%26#039;m essentially lazy, I don%26#039;t want to spend my time steam-cleaning my floors, and even if I did, sand from shoes can cut up the fibers in carpet so that even after it%26#039;s clean it still looks bad.
Reply:What if - what if....





I play the what if game a lot. But I don%26#039;t worry much about germs and dirt. I grew up in a pretty messy house and played in a fenced-in, dirt front yard. I was rarely sick as a child and that still holds true today. My boyfriend was a first born - and his mother sterilized everything - including the floors - and he was very sick as a child.





As humans - I don%26#039;t think we were meant to be so sterile. While playing in dog feces is not a pleasant thought - you seem to be thinking about it a lot more than the average person.





I LIVE in my living room. I think that%26#039;s how it got it%26#039;s name. That means - shoes on if I want - and sitting and lying on the furniture - and eating wherever I want.





If you want to have a rule of no shoes - you should provide those little over-the-shoe slippers that the realtors provide at open houses. It%26#039;s kind of rude to ask people to take off their shoes. Maybe they have a hole in their sock or something.
Reply:I don%26#039;t think it%26#039;s %26quot;disgusting%26quot; or %26quot;disrespectful%26quot; at all, except in a case like yours where the owner of the house does not want you to.


I usually wear my shoes into the house...though I take them off pretty quickly as a matter of comfort.


Edit: I should also add that I don%26#039;t have kids.
Reply:if someone steps in dog feces they should take their shoes off regardless of where they are lol. i only take my shoes off in my house because its comfortable. think about all the people will smelly feet? u want them to take their shoes off in your home? doubt it. i think this whole topic is a little bit on the OCD side if u ask me.
Reply:I agree with you: No shoes in the house. I like to walk around in my socks, and I prefer clean floors underfoot. It%26#039;s amazing how much cleaner things have been since I%26#039;ve stopped wearing shoes in the house.
Reply:I can%26#039;t stand wearing shoes in the house. Think of all the nasty things you step in. I don%26#039;t want that on my floors, especially with my son crawling around.
Reply:I don%26#039;t wear my shoes in the house but I realize that others are not the same as I. So I give them a pass. And you should see my Father In law%26#039;s shoe%26#039;s sometimes. I swear, I am a saint! LOL ;)
Reply:No, I think it%26#039;s sick too. If your feet is that gross, wear socks, but don%26#039;t drag that dirt and filth onto my carpet.
Reply:It%26#039;s disgusting inside %26amp; outside too.
Reply:i am completely with you. you track dirt and evrything when you were them inside.
Reply:i know it is sooo gross...........no you are NOT the only one esp. w/ kids and dirt and germs GROSS
Reply:To be honest, the human body is designed to cope with a significant amount of germs. As one of these answers points out, her boyfriend was brought up in a sterile house and got sick lots. My boyfriend%26#039;s cousins live in a very sterile household, and the amount of vomiting/cold incidents I hear about them is just unbelievable. They are lovely but incredibly sickly children. Now me on the other hand, I was brought up in a house of cats and germs. And even now I get ill so very very rarely. I haven%26#039;t had a proper cold in about 3 years!





Having said all that, I do have OCD and, like you, recoil at the horror that could be walked through my lovely safe little house when people come in shoes. But I am trying to come to terms with this one because I know it will not harm me. I insist people check their shoes before coming in, because if there is anything unpleasant (animal substances or otherwise), I do not want that in my house. I always insist on shoe removal when I%26#039;ve been on a night out in town because there%26#039;s ALWAYS blood on the floor or vomit or whatever, so I insist on a mass shoe removal and I disinfect the soles in the morning.





I%26#039;m guessing that if you%26#039;re funny about shoes, you don%26#039;t have a pet yourself? I can%26#039;t remember the statistics but it%26#039;s been discovered that a large proportion of dogs have fecal matter on their hind legs. But people don%26#039;t bathe them before letting them back in the house if they%26#039;ve just been for a normal urban walk. And cats, they trot in and out as they please, after walking through the same streets people%26#039;s shoes have walked.


I think it%26#039;s a matter of perspective. Yes, it%26#039;s an unpleasant thought but if you clean floors regularly, it shouldn%26#039;t cause a large problem.



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