It’s the end of a long day, and all you want to do is put your feet up and watch your favorite shows. Before you do, make sure you take off your shoes. Keep reading, because it’s about more than keeping dirt off your clean carpet.
We know that dirt is, well, dirty. Given everything our shoes come in contact with, it’s no surprise that we bring a lot of it into our homes. When dirt gets on our floors, it can leave stains and spread to everything else. So that’s the number one reason to take off your shoes when you walk into the house.
Dirt is an obvious and visible problem. But you can’t even see the scariest things your shoes leave behind! According to a study by researchers at the University of Arizona, the average pair of shoes contains a whopping 421,000 different bacteria.
Some of these types of bacteria, like E. coli, can make us very sick, so we need to think about them. If you associate E. coli and other harmful bacteria with undercooked food, you may wonder how they can get on our shoes and then on our floor. After all, it’s not like we’re walking through raw hamburger!
That may be true, but think of all the things your shoes can come in contact with every day: bird droppings, animal waste, someone’s spit, and countless other nasty things! Even if you don’t walk through these things, you may walk over a place where they are. The bacteria they carried could have been transferred to the sidewalk or street and then picked up by your shoes.
This study shows that all these bacteria can really linger. Once they are on your shoes, the germs can be carried long distances. Bacteria from that unidentifiable substance you stepped in outside the bank can easily find its way onto your living room floor, for example, even if you wipe your feet to make your shoes look clean.
Would you want to play on a carpet covered in E. coli? Not at all! So what can we do to stop this problem? One easy thing to do is to get into the habit of removing your shoes as soon as you walk out the door. Leave them on a mat or carry them to another storage area to keep them off your floor.
Cleaning your floor regularly — even if it’s not obviously dirty — is also key to getting rid of any bacteria that still might find their way in. This goes for both carpets and other types of floors. Use a disinfectant floor cleaner, for instance, or steam clean your carpet every 6 months or so. Experts say that steam cleaning reduces bacteria, and can even extend the life of your carpet.
By the way, there’s a similar problem with smartphones. Anything you touch with your hands — and the bacteria you pick up in the process — can be passed to a touchscreen. So make sure to wash your hands and clean your screens regularly, too.
as well as some tips for taking care of the bacteria problem. One thing’s for sure: We’ll think twice about wearing our shoes inside now!
