# Is it rude to be barefoot when entertaining guests? **URL:** \ **Category:** In My Humble Opinion\ **Created:** [July 29, 2025, 8:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-it-rude-to-be-barefoot-when-entertaining-guests/1021481 "2025-07-29T20:21:36Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 9\ **Page:** 4
**Author:** ![enipla](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/54ee81/32.png) [@enipla](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/enipla)\ **Post date:** [July 31, 2025, 3:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-it-rude-to-be-barefoot-when-entertaining-guests/1021481/61 "2025-07-31T15:13:52Z")
> [@thorny\_locust](#): > > IMO even clean country snow is a reason to wear shoes in the house. Yup. We stomp our shoes off and have entry carpets for getting them dry, but a little snow/water won’t hurt our floors. Our entryway is heated concrete, and then it goes to LVP. Stuff is pretty bullet prof. ---
**Author:** ![mbh](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/a6a055/32.png) [@mbh](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/mbh)\ **Post date:** [July 31, 2025, 3:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-it-rude-to-be-barefoot-when-entertaining-guests/1021481/62 "2025-07-31T15:22:28Z")
My daily regimen includes dousing my soles and toenails with antifungal medication. If I were a host, I would worry about my guests contracting my issues. If I were a guest, I would worry about my hosts contracting my issues. ---
**Author:** ![Beckdawrek](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/beckdawrek/32/3647_2.png) [@Beckdawrek](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Beckdawrek)\ **Post date:** [July 31, 2025, 3:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-it-rude-to-be-barefoot-when-entertaining-guests/1021481/63 "2025-07-31T15:22:55Z")
But, but…you have to wash them. @RivkahChaya I personally, would balk at your previously worn sockies. No matter your wash routine. I make a personal commitment to not wear others intimate apparel or socks and shoes. But that’s just me. I have these pesky phobias, and all. ---
**Author:** ![enipla](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/54ee81/32.png) [@enipla](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/enipla)\ **Post date:** [July 31, 2025, 3:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-it-rude-to-be-barefoot-when-entertaining-guests/1021481/64 "2025-07-31T15:41:57Z")
> [@Beckdawrek](#): > > I make a personal commitment to not wear others intimate apparel or socks and shoes. > > But that’s just me. I have these pesky phobias, and all. That ain’t a phobia. Just good sense. ---
**Author:** ![thorny\_locust](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/thorny_locust/32/431_2.png) [@thorny\_locust](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/thorny_locust)\ **Post date:** [July 31, 2025, 3:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-it-rude-to-be-barefoot-when-entertaining-guests/1021481/65 "2025-07-31T15:43:56Z")
> [@enipla](#): > > We stomp our shoes off and have entry carpets for getting them dry, but a little snow/water won’t hurt our floors. Our entryway is heated concrete, and then it goes to LVP. My floors are wood; but it’s mostly wood that’s been flooring in a farmhouse for something over 120 years now, and I figure it’s already had plenty of experience with whatever I land on it. ---
**Author:** ![enipla](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/54ee81/32.png) [@enipla](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/enipla)\ **Post date:** [July 31, 2025, 3:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-it-rude-to-be-barefoot-when-entertaining-guests/1021481/66 "2025-07-31T15:45:05Z")
Yup, no doubt. BRING IT ON! ---
**Author:** ![Kropotkin](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kropotkin/32/18045_2.png) [@Kropotkin](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kropotkin)\ **Post date:** [July 31, 2025, 7:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-it-rude-to-be-barefoot-when-entertaining-guests/1021481/67 "2025-07-31T19:55:13Z")
The “values statement” was just for us, a way to think about what was important for the next 5 years of our lives together, what we wanted to emphasize and work towards. We came up with a much better version. We were in part satirizing the various mission statements and crap we have been exposed to at work. ---
**Author:** ![thorny\_locust](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/thorny_locust/32/431_2.png) [@thorny\_locust](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/thorny_locust)\ **Post date:** [July 31, 2025, 7:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-it-rude-to-be-barefoot-when-entertaining-guests/1021481/68 "2025-07-31T19:57:37Z")
Ah, gotcha. That makes sense. ---
**Author:** ![RivkahChaya](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/rivkahchaya/32/8919_2.png) [@RivkahChaya](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RivkahChaya)\ **Post date:** [July 31, 2025, 8:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-it-rude-to-be-barefoot-when-entertaining-guests/1021481/69 "2025-07-31T20:59:33Z")
> [@StarvingButStrong](#): > > Also, how about us poor diabetics with neuropathy? I’m under strict orders to always wear protective feet coverings, at least slippers with firm soles. You would wear shoes at our place. Cases by case basis, and all. It’s a matter of keeping the crud down as much as possible. If everyone wear shoes, we get a lot of it. If just a few people do, there’s not so much. > [@mbh](#): > > If I were a host, I would worry about my guests contracting my issues. > > If I were a guest, I would worry about my hosts contracting my issues. We don’t _make_ anyone wear the yoga socks. But some people come in sandals without socks, and want something on their feet-- we’re fine with bare feet, but some people want a cover. Other people are worried about slipping in socks, and the yoga socks have the rubber textures on the bottoms, so you won’t slip. I don’t think more than one in 10 people wear them, mostly in summer, when people wear sandal without socks; though, a few friends tell us they really like them, and like wearing them at our place. As I said before, they are washed with bleach on hot-- a very small amount of bleach, but enough to kill fungi and bacteria. Our water is set pretty hot, so most germs are killed that way, and the bleach gets the rest. But to repeat-- we don’t REQUIRE people to wear them. They are simply offered for people who want them. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-it-rude-to-be-barefoot-when-entertaining-guests/1021481.md?page=3)