Ask TreeHugger: Leave Your Shoes at the Door
by Helen Suh MacIntosh, Cambridge, MA, USA on 10.26.07
Question: My sister always insists that we take our shoes off at the door. She says that it is cleaner and safer. I think that it is an old wives tale. Is there any data to support her claim?
Response: In the olden days (as my kids call them), taking your shoes off at the door was the norm. This custom is still the standard practice in Korea, Japan, and many other countries. Even in countries where shoes are generally worn indoors, related practices are followed, as door mats are often placed at entryways for people to wipe their feet before entry.
These "shoe off" and "door mat" practices came about to reduce the amount of dirt that gets tracked into your home. Shoes clearly can be a source of substantial dirt, as is evident from the footprints left when you walk in shoes on a clean, wet floor. Not only can shoes bring dirt into your home, but they can also bring pesticides, lead, and other chemicals that can be present in dirt. The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), for example, showed that people bring lawn pesticides into their homes on their shoes. These pesticide-laden shoes were a major source of pesticide exposures, especially for young children who spend a lot of time on the floor and who put dirty fingers, dust, and toys in their mouths. Somewhat surprising was that the study showed that indoor shoe-wearing was a larger source of children’s pesticide exposures than eating non-organic fruits and vegetables. Taking your shoes off and wiping your feet on a door mat or other carpeting before entering were found to be important pollutant reduction measures.
Even if you do not use pesticides on your lawn or have lead in your soil, you can still have pesticides, lead and other chemicals on your shoes from your travels to other lawns and other places. These pesticides and chemicals can stay on your shoes for quite some time. So, it clearly makes sense to listen to your sister (at least in this one case) and take your shoes off before you enter your home. For added insurance, you can put a door mat just inside your door to store the shoes or to have people wipe their feet before coming inside. Your home will not only be cleaner, but may also look better, especially if you chose a nice looking door mat, such as this one.
Previous Ask Treehugger columns can be found here.
Helen Suh MacIntosh is a professor in environmental health at Harvard University and studies how pollution behaves in the environment and how it affects people's health. Please keep in mind that her answers are just her interpretation of available information and should not be taken as the only viewpoint or solution to a problem. Use this column at your own risk. Having said this, please feel free to post any of your environmental health questions to Helen@TreeHugger.com. (Please use a descriptive email subject line and mention if you want to remain anonymous or not).
Hygiene, pesticides and greenery put aside, I'll never understand why anyone would want to wear shoes any longer than absolutely required. I like being barefoot (socks are OK when it's cold), it's less noisy, and when you're not wearing shoes you can actually use your feet for useful things other than walking. People often give me funny looks when I pick things up with my feet or open a door that way .. but why wouldn't I? They're there for a reason. When hands are full, or when you have a constant lower back pain, not bending in awkward positions just so you can use your hands is definitely the way to go.
Can't pick things up with your feet while wearing shoes though...
I live in Canada, and I don't know any families who allow shoes in the house past the doorway. I thought it was only American Sitcom Families who did that. :)
In Alberta, where snow and mud are the norm for 6-8 months of the year (Most years) it just makes sense to take your shoes off. I think we probably wreck our socks faster though.
I live in Canada and it is considered rude if you don't take your shoes off. My guess is the reason goes back to the fact that we have snow for half the year and if you don't take your shoes off during winter you will bring slush and mud inside and wreck the floors. In the summer we do the same thing out of courtesy I guess....
Don't forget about Hawaii! It is common practice to take your shoes off before you enter the home here in Hawaii. It helps with not tracking in dirt and also I have heard that it helps by not bringing in as many heavy metals into the home.
I know for me it saves on vacuuming!
I'll agree Bram and say any chance I get to take off my shoes is a welcomed one. So not wearing shoes in the house makes sense both personally and environmentally.
We got tired of cleaning our carpet every three months. Going shoeless has lengthened the period to six to nine months.
I wish it was common practice here but it isn't. I have to constantly remind my family to do it. I've decided I'm going to buy a bench with a drawer and place it near the front door. So if they're too tired to bend down and take off their shoes they can sit down and do it.
We live in South Korea and it was hard for me to get used to taking my shoes off. I'm a sandals wearer and people also thought that I was strange for not wearing socks...
One reason for taking off shoes in Asia is that people still sit on the floor at a low table to eat and some also use bed rolls and sleep on the floor. Why would you track in the dirt from outside and put it where you eat and sleep?
I was leaving my home with a Korean friend when I remembered something in the house. I just ran in and got it (without taking off my shoes) and my friend looked horrified! I guess I still have some behavioural adjustments to make. But, I do think that when we get back to the US we'll keep the shoes off policy.
No one mentioned parasites.
Certain intestinal parasites can live in soil for months at a time, having originated in fecal matter.
You track that in your house, then you walk round barefoot later (or your pets do). The larvae of either hook or round worms {don't remember] habitually burrow through the flesh of our feet [or paws] and mature in our bodies and then migrate to our small intestines where the soak up all the digested nutrients that are were supposed to be absorbed by us, or in the case of the hook and/or round worm [don't recall] they latch on in our intestines and suck our blood].
Plus...some people abide by the five second rule...which is a great way to get parasitic worms.
I believe it's one of two things. Lack of training or sheer stupidity. Maybe both. I know this is politically direct but I have tried in vain to bring my family and wife's family up a notch but it hasn't worked. They are too rock solid to change. One of them actually brought over their pet a pot-belly pig. Yes I live in the country. Now if I could find homes for the dogs.
When I was living in Whitehorse, even some businesses (especially the gyms) required that you remove your shoes when entering so that you wouldn't track in mud and snow.
I always find it funny when you see people in movies wearing shoes indoors--or even on the bed!
People should definitely take their shoes off. I wish more people in the UK would adopt this practice.
I have dedicated a blog to the subject.
I would say it was the expectation in the UK to remove your shoes, certainly in my parents generation, perhaps less so now. Perhaps we are becoming lazier. Or vacuum cleaners etc make cleaning easy enough that it isn't seen as such a taboo.
I am not a great role model though, I sometimes keep mine on for warmth (not in the summer). Though in general our houses are surely warmer than in our parents time.
N, perhaps you should get some warm slippers for winter.