please take your shoes off!

taking off your shoes not only helps keep your home cleaner, it also helps keep it healthier. If you think about where your shoes have been, you will realize that you possibly came in contact with a lot of contaminated dirt.


It is estimated that we track 85% of the dirt in our homes in from the outside on our shoes or paws of pets. In a recent warning about lead exposure, the Environmental Protection Agency specifically recommends that shoes remain outside the house. According to a report called The Door Mat Study, lead-contaminated soil from the outside causes almost all the lead dust inside homes.

wiping your shoes on a mat & removing them at the door cuts lead dust by 60%. The study states that limiting the amount of tracked in material may help reduce exposure to lawn & garden pesticides, wood smoke & industrial toxins, mutagens, dust mites, and allergens.

image courtesy of Real Simple