I have been reading a lot lately about not wearing outside shoes in the house and it interests me even more because I’ve been saving to re-carpet my whole house. It hits me every now and then about how to do things though, like, say I’m cooking all day on Sunday then need to take the trash out. I’m assuming it’s change shoes, then say the grandkids stop by and want to go go for a bike ride? I’m assuming it’s change shoes. I guess maybe what I’m asking is how many baskets by how many doors with how many pairs of slip-ons (both indoor and out) do I need?
Stay at a friend’s house where people don’t wear shoes inside and watch them.
Have done, and my takeaway is that they don’t go outside as much.
My wife has some clogs next to the door. Slip in, take out the trash or water the plants and take them off on the way inside.
If you go outside for longer periods, you can put on proper shoes. You can also keep your porch clean and get away with going out in socks or nothing at all.
I mean depending on the amounts of doors to the outside your house has, you’d need about that amount of slip-on shoes. Or less if one way to the outside requires you to put on proper shoes anyways.
keep your porch clean
That’s what I’ve always done, which is why I’m barefoot inside and out.
Sounds good to me. And washing feet is easier than washing shoes anyways.
Just, take your shoes off inside, and put them back on when you go outside. It’s like clothes and the shower, lol
I don’t shower 10 times a day but I do leave the house in and out at least that much and not just little quick trips I could wear slippers, I’m not gonna lace up my boots 10 times and unlike them 10 times everyday. I also don’t have filthy carpets so it’s easy to clean my floors.
Why are you acting like shoes with laces are the only footwear in existence
For what I do for work and the shoes I like shoes with laces are the only option
Use flip flops for shorter trips.
may I introduce you to the wonderful world of Birkenstock?
Way ahead of you!
Awesome! :D
Truly bizarre it needs to be stated.
It’s exactly what you described. I have a pair of slippers and a pair of shoes. I change footwear everytime I need to pass through the door. You only need one pair of indoor footwear, just make sure you enter the house the same door you exited.
I never wear shoes in the house, and rarely wear socks unless it’s really cold.
say I’m cooking all day on Sunday then need to take the trash out. I’m assuming it’s change shoes, then say the grandkids stop by and want to go go for a bike ride? I’m assuming it’s change shoes.
If I’m going on a bike ride then yes, I put shoes on (I’m not “changing shoes”, because I had no shoes on to begin with). If I’m doing something quick outside like taking the trash out, I’ll either just stay barefoot or maybe slip something like Crocs on if they’re close by enough to be convenient. You know if your skin touches the ground outside, it’ll be fine right? It also dries way faster than a sock or a shoe if you go out in the rain. It’s entirely fine.
Doesn’t this defeat the purpose of no shoes inside? The point is to keep anything that touches dirt outside your house. Aren’t you tracking in dirt if you go outside barefoot?
It’s not like you’re outside for long enough for your feet to get manky. If there’s dirt on them just brush it off on your doormat and carry on. The point of not wearing shoes inside for me is comfort, not cleanliness!
I wear moccasins indoors. My partner wears slippers. All shoes are at the door either on the floor (under a slim table for keys and accessories) or in a shoe rack (for her shoes; I only have three pairs).
I can’t imagine wearing shoes indoors because of how filthy the outdoors is, but good for you for taking the leap!
Wear socks in the house only. Have an indoor doormat near the door where your outdoor shoes sit. Treat your indoor doormat as the “outside” and treat it like lava, not to be touched by anything but outdoor shoes. When you come in from outside, you remove your shoes near the edge of your indoor mat and step your clean socked feet one at a time off of the mat and onto your normal flooring (not on the mat, the mat is dirty).
When going outside, step your clean socks from your flooring into the shoes on your mat.
TL;DR: the outside is lava, your indoor door mat (because your outdoor shoes touch it) is lava. Your shoes are all lava-walking shoes. Your socks will burn up in the lava 🔥
Your floors will be so much cleaner and more sanitary and won’t have to be cleaned as often, and you won’t have microscopic amounts of dog poop and piss and grime and dirt everywhere.
You may not like it, but the easy answer to this question is Crocs. You buy them in bulk, leave them by the door, and slip them on to do your thing outside. Or I guess sabots if you are oldschool and French (they pair very well with some type of slippers we call “charentaises” that were originally made as inserts for sabots. So basically if you are using this ancient combo you don’t even have to take your slippers off to go outside).
For the bike ride you would obviously get some proper “outside” shoes. Although if you have dedicated gardening shoes you could choose to keep them on if you don’t care about looks (and if my grandparents were of any indication, I’d say that if you have grandkids, you don’t).
I’m going to second this: a few pairs of Crocs, each placed at a strategic exit and going outside for a few minutes is no inconvenience at all anymore. For anything that takes longer than that, I put on suitable footwear for whatever I’ll be doing.
There’s so many answers but no one has answered your question.
In our house there are 4 external doors.
Only one of which is used for egress when we intend to leave the property. This is where all our actual shoes are kept on a rack.
We have a “pool” of slip ons which are shared between the household. Slip on like flip flops or sandals. No care is given as to where these are left. If you exit through door 2 and re-enter through door 3 then you leave the slip ons at door 3. Occasionally when you go to exit there’s no slip ons at that exit, just go to another exit. It’s a minor inconvenience and doesn’t happen often.
You could use baskets but it’s just a pain. With flip flops there’s no “putting on” stage. You just walk over them and they become attached to your feet. Baskets wouldn’t get used if they were present at our house.
People wear shoes in their house like it’s normal? Wtf?! Fucking savages
I actually noped out of a potential roommate situation when I saw 20 pairs of shoes on the stairs leading to the apartments front door.
Right? It’s disgusting. I don’t even see how some people can rationalise it. Would rather hurt my feet going barefoot/with socks on than drag in a thousand contaminants from the outside.
I had a rule at my house, If you want to wear your shoes inside, lick the sole from heel to toe and I will grant you can wear them. no one ever took me up on it
You are licking your floors regularly? Then yes sir, absolutely will take off my shoes. I would not dance on someone’s table in shoes; if you eat off your floor I understand.
But really, of course if someone asked I wouldn’t dream of pushing back, it’s your house not mine. Do people really fight you on that?
There were a few that pushed back on it back in the day. I hate washing floors
We did growing up. Most people I know are indifferent minus a few friends. I don’t wear them at home now, but I don’t see the big deal in keeping them on once in a while.
Do you not have carpets or what?
I couldn’t imagine fucking up all my carpets and furniture over time from being too lazy to take shoes off.
Plus I just don’t understand how it’s comfortable to wear shoes all day long. I usually can’t wait to get home just so I can take my shoes off. I don’t feel like I can truly relax without them off.
Do you wear your shoes when you’re in bed and snuggling on the couch under a blanket too???
This thread is absolutely insane to me. I can’t imagine wearing shoes all around my house.
I can’t imagine not because of the dirt issue but just because of how uncomfortable shoes are compared to just socks or sandals.
I haaaate wearing shoes…
Yes and what’s best is we can be fully relaxed while having shoes on anywhere outdoor as an added benefit.
Savage!
Do you not have carpets or what?
I don’t, no. Only one room in my house has carpet, and they’re from the original owner and already gross anyway, and that room is a storage room. The rest of the house is hardwood (which needs to be redone) or linoleum.
I couldn’t imagine fucking up all my carpets and furniture over time from being too lazy to take shoes off.
It’s not always laziness, I prefer just having my shoes on unless I’ve got my feet on the couch, then it’s just socks. People have their own preferences, there’s nothing wrong with that.
Plus I just don’t understand how it’s comfortable to wear shoes all day long. I usually can’t wait to get home just so I can take my shoes off. I don’t feel like I can truly relax without them off.
🤷♀️ Don’t know, I just feel more comfortable in shoes an/or socks. I’ve never understood people who have to take their shoes and socks off as soon as they get home, you’re just getting dust and dirt and whatever else all over your feet.
Do you wear your shoes when you’re in bed and snuggling on the couch under a blanket too???
No, shoes don’t go on the furniture, unless I’d get too high in the past and fall asleep with them on. They’re warm and protect my feet.
I’ll also add, I have a dog, so, to me, it’s a moot point. He’s not wearing shoes, and he’s going to drag even worse stuff in the house on his paws, and I’m not cleaning his paws literally every time he’s gotta go out and pee, so… 🤷♀️
Idk, I see all of the points people are making about why you shouldn’t wear them inside, but I don’t understand why people are acting like they’ve never even considered the concept of just… Wearing shoes inside? Like, to me, it’s more astonishing (as a former chef) that people will cook barefoot, like, haven y’all never seen what hot oils can do to bare skin? That’s insane to me, but I’m not losing my mind over the concept.
Same here. Wood floors, 2 dogs, 2 cats, 2 kids. I will still argue that wood floors are cleaner than carpet but cat litter, dogs don’t wear shoes and it doesn’t snow here or anything like that.
I just don’t have the sort of controlled situation that people who ban shoes in house seem to have. Yes we wipe the dogs’ paws before they come in in the summer when it’s muddy and yes I have gardening boots that don’t come inside, but I put on shoes when I get dressed. We do run the Roomba twice a day, have a biweekly cleaning service, central A/C with filters and an air purifier, it’s not filthy by any means but the floor is the floor, we walk on it.
Like, if you are having a party and people are dressed up, they are barefoot? When they go on the back deck do they run to the front and grab their shoes then take them off again to come inside to grab a drink? Is it just that people up north are used to getting undressed when they come inside anyway so shoes are just like coats and scarves and hats to you? Like OP I have questions.
My mother sewed. She lost pins all the time. As a result, I am pretty much only barefoot in the shower.
I hate having litigious family members - they’re always leaving sharp objects around the house.
OP specifically mentioned grandkids, so I’m assuming they are on the older side. When you get old, it can be nice to have the extra support of shoes, even inside your house. I never wear shoes inside but my parents (in their late 60’s) always do since their house has hardwood floors.
My dad has a few pairs of boat shoes for this reason, and my mom uses her old pairs of Birkenstocks.
I have sneakers that I only wear indoors.
You COULD imvest in an enterprise grade shoe rack unit which can act as the centeralized hub. Essentially, all users would connect with the server each time they need a shoe. As you note, distributed shoe storage technology exists, but there are actually a few different implementation strategies.
One option is to retrofit an area in the personal closet for shoes. This has the advantage of keeping each user’s shoes away out of reach from threat actors who wish to gain access to the shoes. A disadvantage occurs when there is poor weather conditions. The strategy there is to leave the shoes outside to dry.
Another option is to implement the strategy you outlined and practice a door-first shoe storage policy. Slides near the doors, work boots at the back door, and nicer shoes at tue front door. In cases where shoe resources are over assigned, you would construct a priority chart to ensure that the shoes (usually slides) are stored at the door where they are most needed.
Another popular option in my region is to forgo shoes outside if you’re staying within the household property. Depending on a user’s mass, testicular fortitude, and the surrounding terrain, it is actually quite possible to take the runbish to a wheely bin while walking over perfectly smooth pavement. Just wipe your feet a bit when going inside.
There are also homebrew hybrid strategies which mix and match any of the above, but be warned that a novel approach might have limited community support.
Have indoor footwear and outdoor footwear. Walking flat. On the floor is not great for your feet, legs, knees, low back. Should always have some arch and ankle support, and some toe protection. If you want to be mobile when you’re 80, consider this now.
Meanwhile people in Gaza have no shoes and will be killed by Israel before they ever hit 80. Have a nice day, genocide denier!
The general advice is that unless there is some issue causing you pain that would corrected by footwear, being barefoot around your house is fine.
Ounce of prevention is worth a pound of cure.
Agreed. Just not sure how it applies here, unless you’re arguing that the current scientific evidence is wrong and being barefoot is bad no matter what.
When you come in you leave the shoes in the mudroom and when you go out you put those shoes back on. What exactly is the issue here? This is like asking how do you shower without clothes on.
shower without clothes on.
There are dozens of us!
Exactly. I have my outside winter boots (simply called winter boots), outside shoes (simply called shoes), and a dead pair (last outdoor pair) at the back door to take out the garbage. Rest of the time I and the others in the house are barefoot or in slippers
What if you aint got a “mudroom?” Whatever that even is… Check your privilege.
We’ve got a mat in our hallway that effectively serves as one. A mud room is an area to be wet or dirty and clean off before entering the house… for moat of us it’s just part of our hallway.
You have a hallway? Fuck you!
I am the image of privilege. When I’m in Chipotle I always order extra guac.
Then you just take it off at the front door area. Have some sandals you can slip on in half a second if you need to take the trash out. “Check your privilege.” How fucking cringey.
Excuse the fuck out of me for not having a whole separate room for that.
I grew up in Texas. I understand your confusion. Houses are oriented a little differently here, but think of the “mudroom” as the garage. You know how you have a side door and a front door? And the side door is usually sort of attached to the garage, basement, or maybe laundry room? It is just that. A lot of people have a spot right inside that door, off to the side, for piling shoes. Otherwise you have a rack when you walk in, or you can use the closet right by your front door. It isn’t really a separate room. Good idea to have mats on both sides of the door. For whatever reason people are obsessed with split levels up here, so there is easier access to basement type areas.
Excuse me but my cardboard box only has one room. Check your privilege!
Foyer, mudroom, entrance way. If you don’t have a small cube between a storm door and a front door, then just as you come inside.
This isn’t some privilege thing, it’s literally just an area of your house or apartment. Different environments have different entryways for the houses there. No need to be so hostile just because you don’t know what a “mudroom” is.
These size 11 shoes were put on me as a toddler, I’ve never taken them off since.
How I aspire to one day have a mudroom so I finally have a place to take off my shoes.
Real talk, just leave em by whatever you deem to be the entrance to your home.
You don’t have a room for storing mud? Peasant
I usually wear slippers in the house. Taking trash out, I keep the slippers on. Driving somewhere? I swap into tennis shoes in the bedroom (I don’t keep any shoes by the front door).
This is the craziest thing to me…
I live in Winnipeg, Manitoba, Canada. I put my boots or shoes on at the door before I go out, and I take them off when I get home. If I get cold feet, I may put on slippers.
Inside the house, I’m bare foot or in socks. If I take the trash out and it’s nice, I go out barefoot. If it’s snowy or frigid cold (I’ll leave the Winnipeg weather up to you for a fun google) I put on my boots.
I don’t know anyone who wears shoes indoors unless they are elderly and need the support. It’s a sign of middle age / senior age living here.
It hits me every now and then about how to do things though, like, say I’m cooking all day on Sunday then need to take the trash out. I’m assuming it’s change shoes
It depends on where your bin is and the ground conditions. After long enough not wearing shoes the soles of my feet are like leather, so it’s no great hardship nipping outside in bare feet. I did once step on a snail while tripping and that was one of the most unpleasant sensations of my entire life.
I don’t wear my indoor clothes when out and will usually wear something different when out in the evening, compared to the day. So quickly putting some boots on is no great extra hassle.