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Should Guests Take Off Their Shoes In Your Home?

Inviting guests into your home can be an intimate experience and a way to celebrate and socialize with your nearest and dearest. But amidst the enjoyment of entertaining, there is one thing that can be a polarizing (and sometimes awkward) experience – and it starts right at the front door. Should guests take off their shoes in your home? 

In many parts of the world, taking off your shoes before you enter a home is not only a sign of respect, but also a way to keep dirt, germs, and anything else on the bottom of your soles from getting tracked inside. Almost all Asian households (and most European and African) remove shoes before coming inside, changing into house shoes or slippers instead. But in the U.S., many argue that asking your guest to take off their shoes can come across as rude or inconsiderate – even if members of the household remove their shoes.

 

But what side is actually right? Should you be forbidding or encouraging footwear? Find out what we think – and see where Bobby stands on the shoes debate – below.

 

 

Shoes On Or Off?

A third of Americans do take their shoes off at home – but far fewer ask their guests to do the same. A 2018 YouGov survey found that 31% of Americans always take their shoes off in their home, but only 10%  ask their guests to always take their shoes off. Etiquette experts, on the other hand, say it’s proper and reasonable to ask guests to slip off their footwear.

What does Bobby think? In his home, it’s definitely a shoes-off household for anyone who enters. Bobby’s husband Dewey grew up in a Vietnamese household that always took their shoes off, and Bobby quickly adopted the practice when the two got together. “It just makes more sense. I don’t want dirt all over my floors!”, he says.

 

Our Verdict:

It definitely makes sense to remove shoes in the home for cleanliness. But the choice to remove shoes is yours to make. You should do whatever makes you comfortable – whether it makes your guests comfortable or not. It’s your home after all! If you do ask guests to remove their shoes, we suggest making it easy for them by having a bench and shoe rack by your door.

 

 

  1. If you are going to have visitors remove their shoes in your home, you should have disposable paper or terry cloth slippers for them to wear, or you should tell them ahead of time to bring their own house slippers. Women who wear heels or boots may have to roll up slacks to keep them from dragging on the floor, so they need advance notice to adjust their wardrobe. People who aren’t wearing socks or panty hose will have to go barefoot in a stranger’s bathroom, which could be unsanitary.