Why We Shouldn’t Wear Shoes In The House!

When is comes to cleaning, I’m really anal and some might say, compulsive. I lived most of my adult life in NYC and for those of you who have had the privilege of experiencing the wonderful city, one of the many things you may have realized is that it’s not the cleanest city in the world.

I have always had a “shoes off” policy in my home and for the most part it has always been respected. Having traveled throughout many states, I’ve noticed that not many people live by this rule. For those of you who wear shoes in your house, here are some things to make you reconsider.

Our shoes are disgusting, and we’d be smart to leave them at the door like they do in Japan. Microbiologist Charles P. Gerba is a professor at the University of Arizona’s Department of Soil, Water and Environmental Science. He’s spent years studying how humans spread microbes and “share” them wherever they go.

Gerba decided to look at what we pick up on our shoes and track into our homes. In his initial test, Gerba swabbed for bacteria on 26 shoes worn by test subjects for three months. He cultured samples and identified 9 microbial species that can cause intestinal, urinary, eye, lung, blood, and wound infections.

Coliform bacteria, originating in fecal matter, was found on the outside of all but one of the shoes, and the samples averaged 421,000 bacterial units per square centimeter sampled. (Each unit is enough bacteria to reproduce and grow a new colony.) Seven of the shoes had picked up Escherichia coli (E. coli) bacteria.

Public restrooms have a lot of fecal bacteria on their floors and they’re frequented by more people than ever as our society becomes more mobile. We pick up even more intestinal bacteria walking where dogs, birds and other critters have relieved themselves. Then we bring it all into our home.

The bacteria on our shoes can survive for long periods of time. In the open air, viruses that cause diarrhea can survive several days to weeks.

As the crud builds up on our shoes, we are adding food and other junk that bacteria feed on. Our shoes become a bacteria cafeteria. Back home, we trail the stuff across our floors and carpets, where the microbes find a new place to rest.

For many people, going shoeless in someone elses home can seem too intimate. If you’re going to host a gathering and request that people take their shoes off, I have found it best to give them a “heads-up”. Let’s face it, there’s no such thing as sexy socks!