December 17, 2018
Never Wear Shoes in the House!
Most people in this country probably wear shoes inside their houses and allow their guests to do the same. That’s a really bad idea. If you thought you had bacteria causing fecal matter or toxins such as oil, gasoline, tar, bird droppings, lawn fertilizer and other germs on your shoes, would you really want to bring that into your home? Many of these bacteria and toxins can cause multiple health conditions including diarrhea, respiratory infections, inflammation of the colon, and even cancer.
A study done at the University of Arizona by Dr. Charles Gerba, microbiologist and professor, found an average of 421,000 different bacteria on shoes. Dr. Gerba found that 96% of shoe bottoms contained coliforms which are commonly present in feces. 27% of the shoes in the study contained E. coli and bacteria such as Klebsiella pneumoniae which can cause urinary tract infections, and Serratia ficaria which can lead to respiratory infections.
Every day we walk through things like dog waste, bird droppings, and germs on public restroom floors. While people may think toilet seats would contain the majority of germs in a public bathroom, toilet seats only contain around 50 parts bacteria per square inch, while restroom floors contain as much as two million bacteria per square inch. Researchers have discovered that the transfer of this bacteria from shoes to home floors can be as high as 99% and that bacteria on shoes can be tracked for long distances. In addition, harmful bacteria can survive on your shoes for days, weeks or even longer.
While some of the things we track into our homes on the bottoms of our shoes are gross, other things like lawn treatments, gasoline, and the asphalt from our roads can contain chemicals and toxins that have been linked to cancer.
Dirt is also easily tracked into our homes every day and while dirt itself isn’t harmful, no one really wants dirt on their carpets and floors and if you have babies or toddlers that are crawling around, you don’t want them to be playing on a dirty floor. In fact, children under 2 years old should never crawl on a floor where shoes are allowed.
The best solution to this problem would be to leave your shoes at the door or outside if possible. Frequently washing shoes in the washing machine can reduce the presence of germs and bacteria by as much as by as much as 90%. Also, keep your floors and carpets clean using disinfectant cleansers or a steam cleaner.
But in order to avoid all the worry, hassle and keep your house clean, it’s best to leave your shoes at the door whenever possible.
Knowing all the disease-causing germs, bacteria and chemicals we bring into our homes each day should encourage us all to remember to leave our shoes at the door. For those who, for whatever reason, find it impossible to keep the shoes off their floors, consider regular floor cleanings. Reflections Extreme Clean is happy to come out and give you a no obligation quote. We use only eco-friendly products to you won’t have to worry about toxic chemicals that can be harmful to you children and pets.
Give us a Call or Message to book an appointment today!
