Experts warned people not to wear shoes at home after "shocking" research revealed they're more contaminated than a toilet seat.
One in four people in the UK wear footwear at home, according to wide-fit shoe specialists Pavers, which swabbed the five most popular shoes worn at home to find the dirtiest pair. The findings may make you reconsider letting guests keep shoes on during flying visits, they said.
They swabbed ten pairs each of six types of shoe - trainers, boots, slippers, sandals, slides, flip flops - and ten each of everyday household items - toilet seat, car door handle, computer keyboard. They then determined how dirty they were by reading the Relative Light Units (RLU), with a high reading indicating high contamination.
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Items needed an RLU of less than 50 to pass as clean, which none of them did. A spokesperson for Pavers said: "Our trusty house slippers have been revealed to be dirtier than a toilet seat, boots and our computer keyboards. Trainers came out on top for being the dirtiest shoe type to wear at home too, recorded as being 70 times over the fail limit in the study, so you might want to be stricter with leaving shoes at the front door."
Vittoria Wellen‑Bombelli, buying assistant at Pavers, said: "With our research revealing shocking findings into just how dirty our shoes are, it's important to consider taking your shoes off at the front door and then switching to a pair that are worn inside-only and prioritise foot health and comfort.
“We should also be washing our shoes at least once a month to reduce the bacteria and dirt we're bringing in. Most shoe soles can be rinsed and washed with water and a damp cloth which should keep them looking clean, as well as reduce the grime that’s transferred around our homes."
More than half the respondents to a Censuswide survey don't wear footwear at home, with 38% of over 55s saying it's because they know how dirty shoes are. But this could cause problems of its own. Keira Moore, a podiatrist and the owner of York Foot Clinic, said: "Sadly this stat is not surprising, however, it is very worrying from a foot health perspective.
"By choosing to not wear any footwear at home, there is an increased risk of falling and for this age category and above, it's proven that wearing nothing or just socks actually increases falls, leading to serious ailments such as broken bones or muscle damage, which can take months to heal. It might not seem dangerous but going barefoot increases the pressure on the feet, leading to calluses and painful fissures which can be very uncomfortable."
The full results from the swab experiment are:
Car door handle - 5,579 RLU
Trainers - 3,524 RLU
Sandals - 1,627 RLU
Slippers - 1,474 RLU
Toilet seat - 1,380 RLU
Sliders - 1,358 RLU
Boots - 1,247 RLU
Keyboard - 1,216 RLU
Flip flops - 700 RLU
Tasha Sturm, a science lab coordinator at Cabrillo College, focuses on microbiology studies. Tasha said: "Although the RLU numbers seem high, which may be a shock to the general public, the findings aren't too surprising from a microbiology perspective.
"I would expect there to be a presence of environmental bacteria on the shoes like Bacillus, which is a common soil bacteria, whereas the objects that experience high human touch, like the car door handle and keyboard, you would likely find normal human flora like Staphylococcus epidermidis. Under normal circumstances, these will not cause disease as they would need to be ingested or find another route into the body such as through a cut.
“It's not a surprise to review findings of bacteria like E. coli on shoes either as this can be brought in by pets or using the bathroom, for example. This is why it’s important to make sure that we wash our hands regularly to avoid transmission."
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