You may be thinking how it’s a pain to remove your shoes at the door or how you dislike walking barefoot at home. These reasons may change your mind:
Keep dirt outside
Previous research at the University of Arizona, discovered the average shoe exterior contains 421,000 units of bacteria. Wearing your outdoor shoes indoors exposes your home to everything your sole comes into contact with outside – the researcher estimate about “90-99% of bacteria transfers from shoes to uncontaminated tiles”. You do not want to bring the bacteria on public restroom floors into your house. Now your babies can crawl on a cleaner floor and probably fall ill less often.
Less cleaning
After vacuuming, mopping your floors and having the carpets professional cleaned, do you really want to walk around with shoes on? Walking around at home without shoes keeps things looking cleaner and newer for longer. The floors do not need to be vacuumed or mopped as much and you avoid having to call a professional carpet cleaning service every 3-6 months.
Protect your floors & Carpets
Wet or dirty shoes can cause wood floors to wrap and damage your carpet fibers. Softer wood floors are also easily scratched by sand and tiny rocks embedded under your shoe – like sandpaper. Shoes = more wear and tear on your carpets and hardwood floors.
Protect your feet
Walking barefoot is great for foot health. Without shoes, you can wriggle those toes, let them breathe and stretch unhindered, as you feel the transition from the outside to the safe haven of your home. Your feet will thank you.
Noise
Walking around in boots or heels sound like stomping to your downstairs neighbor. Keep a quieter home, even on carpets, with padded slippers or go barefoot.
It’s polite
In many cultures, removing shoes is a sign of respect for a person’s home or holy. As a guest you never want to bring in soil, mud and bacteria from the outside. It’s good manners to take off your shoes or just ask if you aren’t sure. Get your household into the habit of removing your shoes before walking inside.
Convinced yet? Your house will be so much healthier and cleaner without shoes. If you have kids, they can safely play or roll around on the floor and you need not worry about them. If you ever have people over, tell them they can kick off their shoes and walk all over barefoot – because their feet are clean and your floors are too! And do not underestimate the importance of a well-placed doormat.
