By Marianne Comfort
From the time we started dating, my now-husband, Ted, has had one firm rule: Remove your shoes upon entering the house. It turns out that his health concerns are aligned with science.
Medical experts have determined that our footwear regularly brings bacteria, lead, hazardous chemicals and allergens into our homes. A University of Arizona study showed that there are more than 421,000 bacteria on the soles of our shoes, including strains that can cause diarrhea, meningitis and pneumonia. And a visual inspection doesn’t catch much of it.
Just imagine the germs from indoor public spaces, pesticides from perfect looking lawns and industrial salts from winter roads and parking lots. They’re all dirtying your floors and carpets, polluting your indoor air and sometimes getting in the mouths of crawling babies.
An internist at the Cleveland Clinic compared wearing your shoes in the house to not washing your hands; they’re both examples of poor hygiene practices.
We have found that most guests are very accommodating to our request. Regular visitors know to bring slippers or heavy socks. Some have foot issues requiring them to wear shoes inside and, of course, we grant exemptions for those cases.
Ted owns a pair of indoor shoes, with medically necessary orthotics, that he never wears outside. And he carries them with him when we’re visiting others.