How Bad Is It To Wear Outside Shoes In The House?

According to Today, some people are firm believers that you must take off your shoes as soon as you walk through the door of your house. However, some think nothing of trudging through their homes with the very shoes that took them all over the city that day.

If you're anything like us and haven't given this topic much thought, then you may be in for a surprise no matter where you fall on the issue. But, if you have thought about how bad it is to wear your outside shoes in the house, we suggest you read on to see just what you are bringing into your home. This is especially important to consider if you have small children who spend their days rolling all over your floors as they innocently play with their toys. Whether you have wood floors or carpeting, you may have more to worry about besides how they can become soiled with dirt and debris from outdoors, per The New York Times. Let us just warn you now — it's pretty alarming.

We must be forthcoming; sometimes, we leave our shoes on as a habit when we arrive home. But, research has detailed why we may want to start (like, right now!) taking them off by the front door as soon as we get home. Dr. Charles Gerba, Professor of Microbiology and Environmental Sciences at the University of Arizona, partook in a study of the soles of footwear to take a closer look at just what can enter the home. "If you wear shoes for more than a month, 93% will have fecal bacteria on the bottom of them," he explains to Today. "Shoes make microorganisms fairly mobile, and you're tracking that all around the house." Gerba added that not only is fecal bacteria brought in from outside, but the bacteria that can spew out of a toilet onto the bathroom floor can be taken around the home, too. Yikes.

Additionally, Dr. Leila Kay Karimpoor, an Internal Medicine Specialist in Santa Monica, California weighed in as well. "The same way you wouldn't walk in mud and then bring a trail into your house, you also wouldn't want to go to a place that could be crowded where you could pick up a pathogen and trail it back into your house," she tells Insider. And ... now we are sold on removing our outside shoes immediately after we walk through the door, and maybe giving them a good cleaning while we're at it.