Do you wear shoes in the house? We bet you do. However, did you know that several scientific studies are suggesting that this isn’t a good idea?
One study done by the University of Arizona found over 400,000 different bacteria on shoes. Imagine that! And get this, Coliforms were found in shoes 96% of the time. What are these you ask? The presence of Coliforms is a bacterial indicator of a food item’s level of sanitation. These are universally present in feces.
If that’s isn’t gross enough to make you stop wearing shoes inside your home, note that E. coli was also detected on 27% of the shoes along with other bacteria that can cause urinary tract infection and respiratory problems.
How do these bacteria end up on our shoes? One place where our shoes get bacteria like Coliforms and E. coli are public restrooms. The horrible truth is that public restrooms contain around two million bacteria per square inch compared to a toilet seat, which contains just 50 per square inch. The most alarming finding in this study is that 90 to 99% of the time, these bacteria would transfer from our shoes to our home floors. So yes, your shoes are dirty and it would be a good idea to keep all that dirt out of your home by keeping your shoes out too!
How, then, can you keep your family safe from these bacteria? First of all, don’t bring your shoes into your home. Also, make sure you clean up—your shoes AND your floor. Another study in the University of Arizona suggested that washing your shoes with detergent in the washing machine can reduce bacterial contamination by 90%. It would also be helpful to constantly clean your floors and carpets using a disinfecting cleaner.
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