We are trying to switch to the no shoes in the house lifestyle. I don’t like to be barefooted, but I am fine in just socks. I would ask very close friends/family to remove shoes, but not anyone else. And, I think it would depend on the setting. If we were entertaining and hosting a happy hour and/or dinner party, I would have shoes on!
When we lived in England, I was surprised that people removed their shoes there because it’s cold! Of course, everyone has on socks. And most had wool carpeting or wool rugs in their homes. But, shoe removal seemed to be a cultural norm there as well, which I did not expect. It IS muddy since it rains often.
@Xplorenature - I will do some comparing between the Shark and the Bissell. Thank you!
There is actually a Wikipedia article , Tradition of removing shoes in the home and houses of worship, that details what the norm is in many different countries, including the United States.
Interestingly I think in our neighborhood over the last twenty years shoes off has become the norm. I’m basing this on going to monthly neighborhood meetings at various house. It’s also an age thing, more prevalent among the younger families much less in the generation above mine.
If you don’t like “slippers” you can always have indoor shoes.
Many Americans of Russian heritage have a “shoes-off” policy. My son-in-law (who immigrated to the US at age 5 (with his parents) is less instant on shoes off than his mother, but he and my D always slip into “indoor shoes” when they’re home.
We stopped having a housecleaner when Covid began. We had one for 20+ years. Quite honestly I’m not that into cleaning and have always had someone doing it for us. Now, we usually clean on Saturdays. Everyone helps. Someone is in charge of vacuuming(usually my spouse), kids clean their own bathrooms ( have to be reminded to do their toilets), I do the Master bath, downstairs bath and one other bath. I do the countertops and sometimes the tile floor. I do glass tops. Someone does the dusting.
We have always been clean but a little bit cluttered( bills) . We got a lot less cluttered after we sold our last house. We cook a lot ( especially my spouse so the kitchen is the area that needs the most work). This house is a lot easier to clean than our last one which was too big.
We have never worn shoes in our house(s). We have had a few family members offend and track muddy footprints. We leave outside shoes by all the doors in case someone has to step out.
I think it’s unlikely we’ll get another cleaner until we are much older. It’s pretty easy to keep up. We make the beds each morning when we get up. Kids don’t.
I need to work on having the kids change their sheets every week without fail. Sometimes they don’t.
Many Asian and Eastern European families do not wear street shoes indoors. Some of my friends keep a box of house slippers by the door for their visitors to wear. Also, street shoes are not worn indoors in Hawaii.
My sister in law lived in Japan for many years. When they came back to the US they kept the tradition up. I also grew up in a community with a lot of Asian and Pacific Islanders and most of my friends had no shoe households.
I am the opposite and hate the feeling of being barefoot. I put on shoes when I get up and leave them on till I take my bath. I even wear shoes or sandals when I’m sitting around at my pool. Sandals on at the beach unless I’m swimming. I’ve even been known to swim in my Teva sandals.
My floors stay pretty clean even with shoes in the house. All the dirt on my floors comes from my dog. He is shoes off both in and out!
Another vote for shoes off! I read an article a long time ago about the germs that get tracked in on the bottom of shoes and it really bothered me. My parents live close by and they keep slippers here for when they come over. I have a little bin in the coat closet where they keep them so they don’t need to bring them every time.
I have a Shark steam mop. I opted for an inexpensive one from Big Lots as I wanted to try one to see if I liked it. I use distilled water in it, per the instructions. You do have to pump the handle to release the steam, but the motion of mopping (pushing and pulling) naturally pumps the handle. I have no problem with that feature. When it comes time to replace it, I will look for one with an on/off switch so I don’t have to unplug it to turn it off. I like the mop a lot for my tile floors and even the vinyl in the one yet-to-be-updated bathroom.
I don’t want to hijack the thread, but since we’re talking about cleaning, including tile floors, do any of these machines work well on grout? We have 12x12 tile that’s very light, and the grout gets pretty grungy over time. Occasionally I will get on my hands and knees and scrub it with bleach, but our mopping machine (forget which one we have) doesn’t do much at all to clean the grout.
1214mom I don’t think my steam mop works on grout well. We have rental properties so tenants don’t keep up with cleaning. I spray using a bottle with water and bleach. Let it sit then lightly scrub with a tooth brush. I’ve found that several spraying and patience works better than lots of scrubbing.
I haven’t tried Magic Eraser on the floor but it’s a miracle worker on grout in the bathroom so may be worth a try. Due to the rental business, we also have a handheld steam cleaner from Steamfast. I think it was $30. It is very effective in cleaning the grout without using chemicals. Depending on your floor traffic, I would think a good cleaning of the grout should only be needed once or twice a year.
@Xplorenature - so the handheld steam cleaner works well on floor grout, but not the steam mop? Wonder what the difference is? I have not used either, but I’m thinking steam would be steam. Or do you mean the handheld steam cleaner works well on the grout in your bathroom?
Every Saturday right after lunch - I’ve got down to a 2 hour science, with once a month a deeper clean. This was the same schedule my grandmother had me doing when I was a kid being raised by her. I get into a groove and 2 maybe 2 1/4 hours later I’m done.
Strip the bed and towels, start first load, all hard surfaces, and kitchen first, then bathroom, dusting, and I have hardwood throughout so vacuum first then damp mop with cleaner. Then I’m done. My personal laundry is Sunday evenings.
@JustaMom - how much square footage do you have? Your routine sounds great. Another problem I have is I am pokey about it and don’t stay as focused as I should. It sounds like you jump in enthusiastically and go at a good pace. I struggle with both of those.