This Is The Crazy Reason You Should Never Wear Your Shoes Inside
By
Editorial Staff in
Cool
On 26th February 2016
Depending on where you are in the world, there's a different rule as to whether you're allowed to wear your shoes inside. In many parts of the world, it's considered a sign of disrespect to enter someone's house with your shoes on.
But that doesn't seem to be a social norm in the US. It's not that wearing shoes indoors is really encouraged, but it just doesn't come up for the most part.
But there's a good reason why it probably should start coming up and it doesn't have anything to do with respect.
#1 After you walk through the door, this is where your shoes should stay.
At least, that's what a recent study by the University of Arizona's College of Public Health suggests. And why is that?
#2 Because the bottom of your shoes are "dirtier than a toilet seat."
Toilet seats have about 1,000 bacteria or less, but shoe soles have numbers in the millions. This wouldn't be such a big deal if some of those species of bacteria weren't linked to stomach, eye, and lung infections but they are.
#3 And this seems to be the culprit.
Yes, as we walk anywhere outside, we're going to end up stepping on a lot of animal droppings. Dog feces like this is kind of obvious, but smaller droppings like those coming from birds are a little more subtle.
#4 And it's not just animal feces.
Walking through a public restroom can lead to the same kind of contamination.
So what's the risk of keeping your shoes on? It's not like we crawl around on the floor, right?
#5 No, but your kids probably are.
It's common for young children to play on the floor, which unfortunately puts them right near those nasty bacteria species. The risk is increased by the fact that young children tend to put their hands in their mouths about 80 times an hour.
#6 And there's one bacteria species in particular to watch out for.
And that is Clostridium difficile. This strain puts households at risk because it's resistant to so many home cleaning products.
#7 So what can you do about it?
Well, the first step is to, as I've said, leave your shoes at the door when you come in, but there are a few other options.
If your shoes allow it, consider washing them on the cold cycle with detergent, since researchers found this can kill most of the bacteria on your shoes. Otherwise, you can also wipe them with a disinfectant.
