After a tiring work day, you might feel like relaxing on the couch with a comfortable blanket and watching your preferred TV show.
However, before you settle down and get comfortable, you might want to reconsider your choice of shoes. Look down: If you’re still wearing the shoes you wore to the office that day, it’s time for a small change.
Unhygienic Behavior
There are other reasons you should avoid placing shoes on a sofa, but the main one is that it’s highly unhygienic and allows germs to enter your home.
Adjacent to your bed, your sofa is likely where you spend the most time in your residence. It is the location for the weekly movie night and where you entertain guests for coffee and dessert.
It turns into a bed when your children get sick, and it’s a place where every family member ends up at some point during the day. Consider all the locations your shoes visit before returning home.
Public restrooms, crowded sidewalks, muddy soccer fields—if you wouldn’t like to lie down in any of these locations, then it’s advisable to remove your shoes before resting your feet on the couch.
Professional guidance
According to Jackie Vernon-Thompson, an expert in etiquette and the proprietor of From the Inside-Out School of Etiquette, the same guidelines should be considered when contemplating placing shoes on a coffee table.
“Take into account that everything you walk on outside is, to some extent, on the soles of your shoes,” she advises. Picture collecting all that soil, microbes, and microorganisms, putting them in a sack, and emptying it upon your living room table.
The coffee table is a surface where you may set your cup of tea, coffee, beverage, and even a snack on a plate. I certainly wouldn’t put my shoes on a surface where I might eat from.
Extending the Lifespan of Furniture
Another reason to avoid putting your shoes on the couch is to maintain the longevity of your furniture. Whether wearing sneakers with rubber soles or stilettos with pointed heels, exposing your couch to non-soft materials increases the likelihood of your furniture deteriorating more quickly than it should.
You can damage your sofa’s upholstery and leave scuff marks or stains if your shoes are light in color.
Etiquette is important
“We instruct our children to refrain from placing their shoes and feet on the furniture,” states national etiquette expert Diane Gottsman. “It harms the wood or upholstery; it is unsanitary and usually unpleasant to those around you.”
Visitors and Courtesy
Is it ever OK for guests to rest their feet on furniture?
When you are a visitor in someone’s house, avoiding doing anything that you wouldn’t do in your own house is essential. In this situation, even if you place your feet on furniture at your residence, you should avoid doing so in someone else’s residence.
“Even in a very casual environment, and even if your host encourages it, putting your feet up on someone else’s furniture seems disrespectful,” Gottsman adds.
Nevertheless, there are a couple of exceptions, according to her. “If you have a foot injury or are wearing a cast and have been sitting for a long time, your host may place pillows on the coffee table to help you feel more at ease.”
Vernon-Thompson states that this rule applies regardless of whether you are wearing shoes and whether the furniture in question is a coffee table or a couch.
“If you haven’t walked outside without shoes in your own house, feel free to relax on your couch,” she advises. However, this rule does not apply when visiting someone’s house. Keep your feet on the ground, whether you wear shoes or not!
Final thoughts
Simply put, placing shoes on your sofa is not advisable for various reasons. It may bring bacteria and grime to your house, harm your furnishings, and be seen as impolite when visiting someone else’s home.
Therefore, the next time you desire to unwind on the sofa, contemplate removing your shoes and resting your feet on the floor for a tidier and more considerate encounter. Your sofa and your visitors will appreciate it.
