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Do you take off your shoes?

Do you take off your shoes before entering a house?

  • Yes! I like my house clean

    Votes: 131 82.4%

  • No, I like it dirty

    Votes: 4 2.5%

  • I do it sometimes.

    Votes: 19 11.9%

  • Only when I go to sleep

    Votes: 5 3.1%
  • Total voters
    159
i always take my shoes off... i think it's part of asian culture
 
Every time. It's a custom here in Finland (and in many many other countries) and it's a very good custom because it keeps the house clean and I would hate wearing shoes all day long. And in the winter it would be really bad to wear shoes inside because snow sticks to shoes so you would always have a wet floor and it's really not a good thing for the floors. I think it's just practical and comfortable.
 
I not only take off my shoes but my pants as well. I don't know if a bum sat in the bus seat before me so its pretty dirty. That and my pants will get wet and salty from the snow. And no I don't ask people to take off their pants before they enter my house but I do tell them to roll them up knee high just for not the floor to get wet.
 
I would love to dirty my neighbour's house above with my dirty shoes on cause they are a bunch of hypocrites! hehe...
 
I ALWAY's take off my shoes, unless its unecessary... But if it's someone who'm I don't know, I already know that taking off the shoes is the first thing to do, besides 120% Politeness but then after I leave i get all moody -.-
 
Most people do not take shoes off here in america, EXCEPT for during the winter. To easy to clean carpets / floors now.
 
IF I GO TO LUC'S HOUSE I'LL BE SURE TO....

Wear clean socks without holes & underwear the same when I check my pants at the door !

Frank

 
I never used to but since I married an arab I always take my shoes off, and we have special flip-flops for bathroom use only.
 
I do usually, out of habit...
But if I'm at someone else's house, I won't take them off straight away, as I don't think it;s very polite to juts take off your shoes and chuck them on the floor when it's not your house...
 
I never used to for the first couple of years in J-pain, then I started getting allergies and a friend recommended getting my carpets properly cleaned. I found a place that to Brits ran - they came and steam-cleaned the place. Boy, you shoulda seen the black gunk that came out of those manky carpets ;-(. Got much better after that.
Oh, those guys were at: carpet-butlers.com
Bev.
 

Why does this sound like an advert to me...XD

Yes I take off my shoes in my own home and sometimes i do it absentmindedly while at my friend's houses too...then they all look at me funny and ask me why I took my shoes off.

Yup I think its an asian thing lol.
 
I take my shoes off before entering a house. I don't want to "dirty" the floor.
 
Everyone takes there shoes off at my house. House rules so to speak. I prefer to be shoeless, my toe-sies like to be free! Anyway, it's a small request to ask and with trying to blend Japan and America in my house this small observance makes my husband happy.
 
Everybody takes off their shoes before entering a house. I've never seen anybody keeping their shoes in houses.
 
:shiver:
nope. no shoes. actually it would be nice to not wear shoes at all, not even outside.
 
I've always removed my shoes. I'm also a fan of sandals, slip-ons, things that are easy.
The sandal thing isn't so big over here for some reason but when I did it in Japan I felt right at home.
 
Well after living in Japan for 4 years, I do now.. but generally as long as there was no mud etc.. on them it was ok to leave them on in my house... not on the furniture or anything though.
 
In Australia it's just not part of our culture to take off your shoes when you go to someone's house. There's always going to be people that prefer you take them off, but you just go with the flow. Otherwise if you just rock up and kick off your shoes it looks like you're getting too comfortable. Unless you're really familiar with the hosts. And if your shoes and socks stink, then it's just offensive.

Of course, I take off my shoes at home since it's just more comfortable. We tell visitors that they can take their shoes off if they want, but we don't enforce it.
 
I take my shoes off in the asses of those who tick me off! :box:

But yes. I take my shoes off when I'm in the house.
 
The custom actually varies geographically in the US. In the Midwest, where I grew up and most of my relatives live, people don't take off their shoes when entering a home. My poor Japanese wife had difficulty convincing visitors to do so. No, I should say, I did; my wife was too polite to ask, so she expected me to do it.

Here in Alaska, everyone removes their shoes. It's a given when visiting someone's home, just like Japan. I think practical considerations make the difference. In the Midwest the streets and walks tend to be washed clean by heavy rains. Here, we have snow and road silt (the city and state dump silty sand on roads to help with slick driving conditions) to deal with six months of the year, and it never rains hard enough to clean the stuff off in summer.
 
I've never met anybody who don't take their shoes off here. So we never worry if we should take our shoes off or not. Also you can see all the shoes left in front of the door to understand you should take off yours too.
well if there are people who don't take their shoes in houses i think it could be only about %5-10 of the population.
We use slippers and also offer slippers, which we have extra, to the guests. sometimes women take their own slippers (or sometimes home shoes) when they go to visit someone's house. And of course bathrooms have their own slippers which are not allowed to put on in the other rooms of the house.
put aside the cleanliness how can you keep those shoes all day on. I think it's unhealty too.
oh and if you step on the couches or beds with slippers you can get a bad beating from my sister
 
I've never been to a Japan or a Japanese house, and live in Ohio (USA) and me and my fiancee we always take our shoes off before we enter the carpeted area of our house. Also do it when we go to friends houses but most of our friends do the same too and have a 'shoe area'.
 
I always take them off.

Not as much for cleanness but just because I feel uncomfortable with them at home.
 
I always take them off as I live in a traditional Japanese house. There are times, though, it can be such a drag like when I am about to leave the house in the morning and after I am outside the door, I realize I have left my cell-phone or something up in my room. If I am wearing a pair of boots or laced-up shoes, it's really annoying having to take them off and on again especially when I am in a hurry. If no one is home, sometimes I cheat and go up to my room with my shoes on walking on my toes/heels so I wouldn't leave foot prints. lol
 
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