Tip 22: Leave Dirt at the Door - Remove Your Shoes

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Tip 22: Leave Dirt at the Door - Remove Your Shoes

Laura Dern

Wednesday, October 18, 2006

In many cultures it’s customary to remove your shoes before entering a home for spiritual or practical reasons. And as a mom, of course I want a clean home. But as I did more research, I learned that a great way to reduce your exposure to lead, dust, pesticides, and other pollutants in the home was to invest in a good quality doormat. The professional cleaning industry estimates that we track 85% of the dirt in our homes in from the outside on our shoes or paws of pets.

In a recent warning about lead exposure, the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) specifically recommends that shoes remain outside the house. According to a report called the Door Mat Study, lead-contaminated soil from the outside causes almost all the lead dust inside homes, and it notes that wiping shoes on a mat and removing them at the door cuts lead dust by 60 percent. The study explains that limiting the amount of dust and track-in may also help reduce exposure to lawn and garden pesticides, wood smoke and industrial toxins, mutagens, dust mites, and allergens.

Wiping our shoes off as we enter the home reduces the amount of contaminated dirt tracked in. Large mats, that cover two or three strides, will ensure that even those that refuse to wipe will leave most of the dirt clinging to their shoes on the mat rather than your carpet

The BEST solution is to take off your shoes as you enter your home. It is a good excuse to buy some great socks or slippers. And your flooring will stay clean as well as keep dirt and potential toxic threats from getting into carpets. If going shoeless is not acceptable to family members, suggest that they wear house shoes (that don't go outside), slippers or socks.

And walking around in soft slippers, socks, or barefoot does another wonderful thing – it helps us relax and unwind.

The opinions expressed here are solely those of the author and not necessarily those of Healthy Child Healthy World.

Posted by Matthew C on 11/06/2006 at 11:00 AM

Excellent advice! Shoes off is the way!

I have a whole blog devoted to this subject.

Posted by Merrik's Mom on 10/27/2006 at 04:29 AM

We run into the same issues with people thinking it’s weird which is just ridiculous - especially when you read what Laura provides us with above… but it’s worth the ridiclue, especailly with crawling babies in the house!

Posted by marie on 10/19/2006 at 04:44 PM

Hi Laura,

Great post. We do no-shoes, too, it’s a Korean custom, and we have clean slippers for guests. The only problem is

1. people think it’s weird
2. the people with the ickiest shoes (e.g., plumbers, etc.) are the types who won’t take them off.

But it’s also a spiritually cleansing ritual, a sort of Ah, I’m home kind of thing. Like Nicola, I wish it would catch on more…

Posted by Nicola on 10/19/2006 at 01:54 PM

We have always had a “no shoes” policy in our home—though I have to admit that it has more to do with my status as a self-professed clean freak than any consideration about what we might actually be tracking into the house. The environmental hazard should have been obvious—we walk through all sorts of materials and chemicals in our daily travels, much of which probably remains on our shoes upon our return to the house. I hope that more families, armed with this knowledge, will choose to leave the pollutants at the door.

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