Asia Many Asian countries typically follow the tradition of removing shoes before entering a house.
Southern Asia In
India,
Pakistan,
Bangladesh,
Sri Lanka,
Nepal and
Maldives where having carpeted rugs are common, it is considered necessary to take one's shoes off in order to walk on carpeted rugs inside the home.
India , India It is considered a matter of hygiene to remove shoes before entering one's home. When people walk outside wearing shoes, they tend to bring dirt, grime, bacteria and infectious diseases into the house. In
India, it is also customary for shoes to be taken off before entering others' homes. It is often considered by hosts, as rude when guests keep their shoes on whilst inside the house. It is considered sacrilegious to touch books with one's feet and an insult to point one's feet at someone. One may change into , indoor slippers at the
genkan, especially in school. More modern households will use and provide indoor slippers. Some temples like
Batu Caves and religious places such as mosques and suraus require the removal of shoes before entering. Modern schools require students to remove their shoes before entering air-conditioned spaces including designated classrooms, laboratories, libraries and carpeted administrative spaces. Students still wear shoes at more open spaces such as sports courts, halls, passively ventilated classrooms, passively ventilated laboratories or in the corridors; these areas are more exposed to the elements as Malaysian schools are mostly passively ventilated, allowing natural airflow due to the warm weather. Some smaller private offices and mixed shopfront-offices exercise the removal of shoes, especially on (but not limited to) carpeted floors. In
Thailand, all homes require the removal of shoes and placement of them in front of the main door. One also needs to remove their shoes to enter some buildings in
Thai temples, especially in
Ubosot. Kindergarten schools and some buildings in old elementary or high schools also require students to take off their shoes as well. However, in some houses or schools, slippers are allowed, but those are not allowed outside the buildings, as well in some restrooms there are provided sandals for changing before entering restrooms to keep it clean.
Myanmar (Burma) poses barefoot on the grounds of
Shwedagon Pagoda, one of Myanmar's major Buddhist pilgrimage sites In Myanmar, footwear is customarily removed before entering a home and Buddhist places of worship. Many workplaces in Myanmar also have shoe-free areas, or restrict footwear altogether, with shoes typically left at the corridor or at the entrance of an office. These customs are strictly enforced in Buddhist places of worship, including
Burmese pagodas and in
Buddhist monasteries called
kyaung. The Burmese remove their footwear at such sites as a sign of religious respect. Strict enforcement of this custom, however, is partly a legacy of
British rule in Burma, during which Europeans refused and were exempted from removing their footwear when entering Buddhist places of worship. In pre-colonial Burma, non-royals removed their footwear before entering palace grounds, as a token of respect for the reigning monarch. In the final years of the
Konbaung dynasty, diplomatic relations between the British and Burmese soured when the British Resident, a colonial representative, refused to remove his shoes upon entering the
Mandalay Palace platform, a decision that prevented him from meeting King
Thibaw Min. Consequently, the British withdrew the Resident and his delegation in October 1879, with his exit portending the
Third Anglo-Burmese War, after which the remaining half of the Burmese kingdom (
Upper Burma) was fully annexed into British India. In 1919, after a two-year battle,
Thein Maung, a YMBA member, successfully persuaded the colonial government to issue an order prohibiting footwear on the grounds of religious sites. Foreigners have been successfully prosecuted and punished for refusing to remove their footwear at Burmese religious sites. In August 2017, a Russian tourist was arrested and sentenced to one month and then a further six months of jail time and
hard labor for repeatedly refusing to remove her shoes upon entering pagoda grounds throughout Bagan, as she had violated local customs, per Section 13(1) of the Immigration Act. Burmese authorities subsequently announced a crackdown tourists wearing shoes inside
Bagan's pagodas.
Australasia Australia and New Zealand Removing shoes before entering a house is common-place in
New Zealand, in all areas and may stem from the
Māori tradition of removing shoes before entering the
wharenui. In
Australia, they follow similar customs to remove shoes like that of New Zealand.
Europe Western Europe In
France, it is rare for guests to be requested to take their shoes off when entering one's home, particularly if they are not close guests. However, it is very common to leave shoes at the entrance of one's own home or a close acquaintance's home. In
Germany and
Austria shoes are mostly also traditionally removed, but to a less extent, being also not uncommon to let them in. This is the case especially for short visits, even if entering interior rooms. In the
Netherlands, it is a little uncommon to take off shoes at home. Visitors are not usually expected to take off their shoes when entering a home. However, in some cases a host may ask people entering the home to take off their shoes. It is uncommon to walk around barefoot. In the
United Kingdom, footwear habits reveal a significant generational divide. A 2023 survey reported that 78% of people aged 18 to 34 have a "shoes-off" rule in their home, compared with only 51% of those over 55. Cultural commentators also observe a rural-urban distinction, noting that shoe removal is often less practical in rural homes due to cold stone floors and the frequent need to move between the house and the garden. It is expected that a guest would remove their shoes when entering a home, unless the host states otherwise, which is generally rare. In addition to residential homes, the removal of shoes also occurs in other settings, particularly during the winter; as footwear worn outside may be wet from snow and soiled by the associated salt/sand that is used to clear roads of snow cover. As a result, many schools in Canada require students to bring with them or leave behind a pair of "indoor shoes" at the school for indoor wear during the winter months. The same with gyms, offices, and other private establishments during the winter months. During the summer, it is common to wear outdoor shoes to school, the office, the gym, etc. Some specialized medical facilities require patients to remove shoes in order to maintain cleanliness, or to at least wear disposable paper
bootees over those shoes. The latter with anti-static protections are common in
cleanrooms in medical and technological facilities worldwide.
United States Taking shoes off indoors is not a tradition within the continental United States, but is considered expected in Hawaii, Alaska, Guam, and the Northern Mariana Islands. According to a YouGov poll in 2018, whilst many Americans take off their shoes indoors at home, they may or may not request their guests to take off their shoes. It is also prevalent in the Northeast due to poor weather in the winter, as well as in the
Pacific Northwest, with standards differing from household to household. Slippers are generally not offered. In New England, many elementary schools require students to bring an indoor pair of shoes as well as winter boots. This is especially the case during rainy weather, when one's shoes could easily get very muddy, wet, or dirty. ==See also==