I say yes, you say no, OR People are Strange

pip57

For some reason we were steered away from bamboo by friends. I don't remember why.

My American relatives tell me that it is normal for them to wear shoes in the house.  They say it is a Canadian thing that we always take our shoes off at the door. Can our American ladies tell me if this is the case where they live?  I can't imagine what my rugs would have looked like if shoes were kept on!

gardengumby

I think it depends. In Hawaii it's rude if you don't take off your shoes. We, though, insist that people leave their shoes on as too many people seem to have some kind of foot rot that I do not want in my house. If they take their shoes off then I go round and disinfect everywhere they've walked. Too much work. Yeah I know... ocd

QuinnCat

Lol - foot rot.  Pip - A Canadian thing - hey?  My Canadian cousins remove their shoes, but I never thought that was a general Canadian custom.  My parents didn't do that, though when in Rome (for them USA)...

GG - I just installed an IKEA Hemnes shoe cabinet (about all I have room for) in my entryway.  I plan to fill it with shoe covers, booties, whatever, so people still have their shoes covered or can take their shoes off.

http://sarah.cl/post/25371169725/interior-design-in-chile-ikea-hemnes-shoe-cabinet

pupmom

I don't like walking barefoot so I always leave on my shoes. DH does too. Daughters and grands don't take off their shoes either. But others who come in often de-shoe. I guess they worry about scuffing the hardwood floors. Everybody in my family always wears soft soled shoes we don't hurt the floors.

gardengumby

What a cool idea. I've got to take a look at those

alexandria58

Well, I'm barefoot all the time.  Tile feels cool and smooth in the summer, and not particularly hard if you've been walking on sidewalks in barefeet.  If you're not used to going barefoot, it is harder than hard wood.   By the way, you get foot rot from shoes.  Feet have more sweat glands than the rest of our bodies; enclosing them in socks and shoes causes them to sweat.  Fungus also needs dampness to grow - which is why people who wear shoes are more likely to have foot fungus and barefoot people rarely do.  My feet have nothing worse on them than what is on the average shoe - less, probably, since I either wash them or wipe down with baby wipes several times a day, and how often do people wash the bottom of their shoes.

bluedahlia

I've got this all through the whole house and it drives me nuts.  I usually have to go over ithem with a dry mop, vacuum and them go over them with cider vinegar, damp mop.  I love them and I hate them.  Lots of paw marks when I don't get around to cleaning them, which happens quite often, hahahahaha!

Speaking if paws!

pip57

Blue, yours is very dark...much harder to keep clean.

GG...Foot rot...sounds lovely.

kad2kar

 I laid Allure Plank GripStrip in our bathroom and it is great it is a vinyl, so water doesn't bother it.Nice to walk on,looks like wood,washes easy.I grew up in California and had Oak floors covered with carpet. Tiles are like walking on cement. My folks moved to AZ and had Saltillo tiles put in kitchen, it was horrible.  My Mom changed it out a year ago to 18inch ceramic tiles and it is horrible. Wood is easier to walk on,even when it is installed on a cement slab, which is most of AZ housing.

 Growing up I learned to go barefoot in CA and still at 67 go barefoot.  I vote for any wood product.(If I get a vote) Just have fun in your choices and ENJOY!----kad2kar

 PS--yesterday was our 49th anniversary,went to BlackAngus, had a Singapore Sling and a HEART shaped sirloin. And the steak WAS NOT cut to the shape, it surprised my DH and our waiter when I got excited about it being heart shaped.

IllinoisLady

kad2kar....a very happy 49th.to you and you DH.  Sounds like it was fun.  Good for you.

Wow !!! Learning a lot about woods, bamboo, tile etc.  Our first lake house had Pergo.  It was in small strips and they all were individually coated with a glue before being laid down.  The farm-house planks all had a groove on the edge and the piece that fit it had a projection.  They were pounded together.  Someone mentioned....floods on those planks were bad, bad, bad.  On the Pergo floor ( sigh !!!  obviously we didn't learn much between the two houses and their floors ) we flooded once but it really didn't have a bad effect.  We got it up fast enough apparently and the glue apparently didn't allow any seepage to make its way into the wood.  Any way.....learning a lot for when if ever we change our flooring. 

Jackie

IllinoisLady

gardengumby

sandy - you are totally right - people who go barefoot all the time rarely get foot rot - which is why I don't have a problem people taking off their shoes in Hawaii - it's in Seattle, where people where shoes all the time that it's an issue for me - I know I didn't make that clear at all...    sorry

I'm not feeling well at all right now, as I just had a dust-up with my BIL's GF.  So I'm signing off.  Maybe I'll talk about it later...

GatorGal

I like the natural flow of one type of flooring in a house. Too many flooring types gives a house a chopped up look. Of course bathrooms and kitchens are the exception. I love oak hardwood (even in a kitchen) and the fact that it can be refinished when needed is a plus. Hate carpet for the pet smell reason. We do have carpet in some of our rooms but it was here when we bought the house. Carpeting in upstairs bedrooms is nice for the sound barrier. So, many different opinions .... You get to do what you like in your new home! Enjoy!!

Anonymous

Isn't anybody else but me so flatfooted that it almost HURTS to go barefoot?  Slap, slap, slap go the feet - and I don't know WHAT I did b4 I "discovered" Keen Presidio's and sandals - have a HUGE bag of show inserts if anybody wants them, but speaking of foot rot, yikes - I better BURN them.

Thinking of E - and determined the newest med is gonna be THE ONE that really REALLY works.

Rain.  Did I mention rain, lately.  WOW - our summer alleregy season has started almost 3 weeks early this year.  My acupuncturist is so wonderful, now taking her Chinese herbs instead of OTC antihistamines, and they are SO MUCH BETTER.  They work, and don't knock me out. 

IllinoisLady

Just some nice thoughts I found...no special reason:

pupmom

Jackie, that is beautiful! Thank you.

crazy4carrots

Jumping in here about the supposed "Canadian" habit of taking one's shoes off when entering a house. Hey, news to me!  Snowboots, yes!  Shoes, not so much.  However, when shopping for a new house, it's "de rigueur" to take off the shoes before starting the tour.  Am sure it's the same in the U.S.

And about flat feet:  apparently all babies are born with flat feet and after some months/years, the arch begins to develop.  Unfortunately mine never did, and all the orthpedic (did I say ugly?) shoes in the world didn't help!  So going barefoot is not a good idea for Sunny and me!

IllinoisLady

Good morning after the rain last night though must admit its humid now.  There will be more rain.  This yr. is quite unlike last year.  So wet for this one.  Well, I think from now on we can expect the un-expected. 

GG...I think I sort of know what you are getting at with the shoe issue.  While carpets will fare better to an extent if shoes are not worn ( oh the multitude of things we step in or on outside ) inside and transfer so much filth....yet it wouldn't mean that a lot of negative transfers were not taking place anyway. 

Hoping a good day for all.

Jackie

Also carpet cleaning isn't a full answer to any of it either.  Spots removed tend to come back because it seems so difficult to get what may have been forced far down to return to the surface.  Also, a really powerful vacumn as dirt tends to settle farther and farther down getting into the underlay.  Still, I think with diligence one could have carpet and be happy --  but too many allergies ( so well controlled now ) and way too much dirt here in the woods for me to ever desire it again. 

pupmom

I'm almost flat footed also. I tend to only wear SAS shoes, which do have microbial soles. 

QuinnCat

Are there problems with being flat-footed, other than fitting into shoes and not wanting to go barefoot?? I guess the "slapping" wouldn't be good, but does that cause pain, deformity?  Now that I have a nice dose of taxol induced neuropathy (1 year and not getting any better), I find that I can only hike uphill without burning.  Unfortuneaetely, what goes up, must come down.  Standing or walking on cement is a bear, so shopping is kept to a minimum.

Oh, but have we discussed cement floors yet?  I have to say I really really like them (with acid etchings and color swirlled in), but probably not good for old age (or babies) and all of things that can go wrong with feet.

crazy4carrots

1.  A tendency towards plantar fasciitis

2.  Sore, burning feet after a half day of shopping/sightseeing etc.

3.  Visits to the chiropodist for orthotics and finding footwear to accommodate same.

4.  Embarrassment about my flat feet

I'm sure there are more problems about archless feet, but those are mine.

And about concrete floors:  yes, they can look quite gorgeous, but my feet go "Ouch, ouch, ouch" when I see photos of them!

Anonymous

Anyone with flat feet - GET THEE TO A STORE WHICH SELLS KEEN SHOES.  Seriously - I don't even need inserts with my Presidios.  Divinely happy.

What are SAS shoes?  Gotta go google it....

Anonymous

Success - I found a store near me that sells SAS - and I like the  TAKE TIME, and TRAVELER styles...

pupmom

SAS is out of San Antonio Texas. Their website is www.sasshoes.com. I will check into Keen also.

bluedahlia

You silly women talking about floors and foot rot!  You should be talking about, drum roll please, BENGHAZI, on this thread started by someone who is obsessed with an ugly dead rocker.  ROFLMAO, really am!

gardengumby

Hahahaha Benghazi hahahaha scandal hahahaha oK back to the serious issue of feet... love keens. I wear them and birkenstocks. Period. OK occasionally naot, too.



Sorry sick of serious. When I can get to a keyboard 'stead of a phone I'll talk about it. What a mess.

IllinoisLady

Benghazi --- sad, shouldn't have happened, no conspiracy and so YESTERDAY. So much more to get excited about....like the Republicans fighting each other.  Sigh !!!!  I've refrained many times because ....well, because such idiocy bores me.  I do see a graphic now and then that catches my eye.  GOP a very sad lot.  Granted some Dems too.....like to trash the biggest part and start over.  Best thought right now....McConnell is neck deep in it.  Well, maybe he will find his way out, eh. 

Beauty of an afternoon here, though a bit humid.  Rain likely later and several times the next few days.  Going to work for a few hours later on.  Will be a nice break from cleaning house. 

Jackie

crazy4carrots

Oh Blue -- Jim is indeed dead, and he was a rocker, but ugly????  Wow!

Have never seen Keens here, but we do have Birkenstocks, Mephisto, Allegra etc.

As for serious stuff -- well, when you've got nothing else, I guess the only thing to do is keep beating that dead horse.......40 times or so......

gardengumby

I didn't mean that what happened in Benghazi wasn't terrible..... it was. But so tired of GOP attitudes re: creating scandals and fear mongering. I'd rather laugh for a bit.

IllinoisLady

A good point:  There is a group that knows that too.