If you and your family wear shoes in the house, do you put them on in the morning and take them off at night?

I do not wear shoes in the house. I’m pretty sure none of my kids do either. I don’t think my parents did….maybe Dad wore house slippers. It was no big thing, it’s just there was / is no earthly reason to wear shoes in the house. In the summer I didn’t wear shoes outside either, until school started.

Rick, on the other hand, has tennis shoes on always except when he’s sleeping. I don’t understand it. I have a personal opinion that it probably isn’t healthy.

I get up, I put my shoes on when I dress, I take them off before bed. I don’t live far from you, there’s dirt and mud and dog crap and all sorts of unattractive stuff that gets tramped into my house. I have a mat to wipe off the worst of it.
Most of the people I know don’t go shoeless indoors either, we are busy, we have dogs and cats and kids, our homes are not showplaces, they are where we live.

No big deal, I don’t lick my floors.

And to add to your question: if you take them off when you come in, do you leave them there or take them to your closet? If you take them to your closet, do you carry them to the door to put them on again? I’m thinking dress shoes. Obviously, I’ve been thinking about this, too.

Thanks. This is one of those times where I really learned something. It’s not that I assumed that everyone took off their shoes inside – I guess I just never thought about it. My whole experience growing up, and with everyone I know has been that shoes are things worn when outside. I had no idea that people – maybe even most people – wear shoes inside all day long.

Just to follow up – do you ever feel uncomfortable with shoes on? I might just have the most uncomfortable shoes, but wearing them always feels like a sweaty burden. Do you ever kick them off and put your feet up?

I know you weren’t asking me @Chyna, but when I take my tennis shoes off I tuck them away in a corner somewhere, the kitchen, the bathroom, the bedroom, whereever.. It might take me a few to find them. Same with the flip flops I wear in the summer if I leave the house.

Dress shoes are immediately hung up in the shoe rack thingy I have handing on my bathroom door.

Since all the dogs are gone my house and floors stay really clean. If there is a difference between people wearing shoes and people not wearing shoes, even coming in from being outside barefooted, I don’t notice it.

I am unhappy when I have to wear shoes @hmmmmmm. But you know, you just tuck it away and don’t think about it.

I kick them off by the door and my daughter does too. I like to be able to know I’m not tracking dirt, snow and salt on the floors, on the runner in the bathroom, etc. I also like to put my feet up on the bed or couch and I can’t do that if I have my shoes on. Sometimes if I’m running out briefly, like to go to the basement, I will put on slippers but then they come off right when I’m back inside.

It’s killing me that I can’t find any data on this. Why would my part of MA be so different from other parts of the country that might be even nearby? If anyone finds any polling or data on US habits, I’d be curious. The only stuff I can find are vague, data-free articles about other non-US cultures, and this which does mention that removing shoes is “more prevalent” in the northeast due to climate.

I wear light slippers about the house and leave my outside shoes on a rack by the front door. As well as keeping mud and slush from being trodden into the carpet it feels more comfortable and relaxing as well.

PS The Chinese are quite paranoid about keeping floors clean. Some homes keep slip on plastic overshoes by their door for visitors.

I’m on my feet when I work so I need support when I’m home. I wear supportive sandals inside but kick them off when I lounge. I also wear these sandals outside when it isn’t too cold.

I also don’t lick my floor.

Don’t know how accurate this is, but found this, wich breaks it down by region, age, etc.

The people who lieave them around the door go it right. I mean sooooo not complicated.

OK, @flo, I’ll bite. Why do the ”people who leave them around the door go it right?”
What could be “right” or “not right” about it?

@flo – This wasn’t a question about which is the right way to do it. This is a question for those who wear shoes indoors to get more details.

Sorry for derailing the OP.

The only shoes allowed to be worn in our home are the tap shoes I order my butler Carstairs to put on when I need him to perform whilst bringing my morning coffee.

Bare foot in the house, brought up in southern California, I used to be bare foot outside during the summer in California.

@hmmmmmm Are you thinking the word right in the moral sense? I wasn’t.

@flo, I am curious. How did you mean “right” if not the moral sense?

Now I can’t get my shoes off my mind. I left the house for a doctors appointment. Now I’m back. I have to leave in 1 hour for a meeting. I am not removing my shoes at this point.
It’s snowing like a banshee, but I’m not worried about tracking snow it. I figure the runner that is just inside the door will catch the water, if not I’ll vacuum or mop whatever up later. Like, 6 months from now.

I’ll be inside tonight and wearing shoes at the restaurant despite it being Japanese, you know I’m crazy like that.

I put shoes on when I leave the house and take them off when I return.

If my shoes were abominated by snow, rain, mud or dirt I’d take them off outside the door.

I’m quite cultured that way.

I don’t even wear socks to bed although I am fond of a nightcap.

I’m thinking you have a wet area or two.

Since I had a foot injury a while back, my doctor says I have to wear shoes all day, every day. Most people in my household do not wear shoes inside. We have a shoe rack just inside the door to put them in.

Don’t wear shoes in the house. Just kick them off when we get home. And leave them by the door.

I also don’t lick my floor.

My entry way has linoleum so it’s OK if it gets wet. It also has an expensive rug running down it, and it’s ok if that gets wet and muddy. After it dries it vacuums right up.

I try not to lick my floors but it’s been a battle, I admit.

Thanks everyone.

** INEXPENSIVE rug. CHEAP rug! **

Snowy days – boots come off on newspaper by the door. Other times, usually clogs with orthotics in the house and sneakers out but there is no hard and fast policy about where and when the switch gets made. Friends are not instructed to take off shoes but they can if they want. Oddly, both my sons are in strict shoes off households. – one for germ reasons and the other because of living in an apartment.

Generally speaking, yes.

My in-laws come from a culture that never is barefoot nor sock-feet in the house. They either have their outdoor shoes on, or switch to some sort of house shoe. I’m so glad I don’t come from a culture like that. They are from Mexico City, they don’t have to worry about snow or muddy shoes. It does rain at times there.

A lot of Latin America wears shoes indoors, not just Mexico. Marble floors are cold, and that’s fairly common in a lot of those countries. My BIL thinks it’s dirty and germy to have bare feet on floors, but of course studies show that outdoor shoes worn in the house makes the floors germy.

I prefer no shoes in the house, but that just goes for family. If you come to visit you can do whatever you want and it won’t bother me.

I’m going to add that I think cultures that customarily have help in the house tend to keep their shoes on. I don’t have data on this though.

When my niece and nephew were young they knew to take their shoes off as they entered my house. One day their grandma was with them (the one from Mexico City) and as they kicked off they’re shoes she started to verbally scold them. I quickly interrupted and told her they are just following what I had asked of them. A few months later I was over her house (in America) and the kids came running in tracking footprints into her house on a rainy day. She said, “maybe JL is right about taking off their shoes.” Here in America she does all of her own cleaning, plus they had lost some money and couldn’t change carpets every two years like the old days.

You asked about feeling confined in shoes. I never felt that way until I moved to Florida. Now, I’m so used to wearing sandals tag I can easily slip in and off, I hate wearing closed shoes in general. In my house, when I’m sitting, I almost always have my feet up on furniture, another reason I don’t wear shoes. I don’t even understand not having an ottoman or not sitting sideways while watching TV and relaxing.

My husband developed planters fasciitis several years ago. Now, he always wears house slip on shoes to support his feet.

As soon as I walk in the door, assuming I’m in for the night, or not going back out for a few hours, it’s shoes off, sleep clothes on, contacts out, jewelry off.

Taking off shoes at the door means to some people go barefoot. Going barefoot is bad too. You don’t know what piece of glass someone didn’t remove it all, after a broken glass while you were out, and what other people tracked in with their outdoor shoes.

I don’t think going barefoot in the house is bad. I go barefoot outside too, when I can. Who cares what other people tracked in with their shoes, or their feet? Nothing wrong with a little dirt.