If you wear your street shoes in the house, you can easily track in germs and bacterial strains, like E. coli. If your friends and family members are forgetting to take their shoes off when they enter your home, you may want to try these other reminders to make it happen.

1. Get a Sign or a Mat

Your friends and family members may not be trying to flout your house rules; rather, they may just forget that your home is a shoe-free zone. To mitigate problems, you should look for a welcome mat or sign that says, "Please remove shoes." If a person doesn't feel comfortable taking off his or her shoes, then at the very least, the mat can be used to remove excess dirt or mud.

2. Create a Genkan

In Japan, homes have entryways, or genkans, that combine a porch and a doormat. Genkans are the main areas for taking off shoes before one enters a home. If you want people to take off their shoes, but you don't have cubbies, shoe holders, or places for people to sit to take off their shoes, then they may think it doesn't matter whether they wear shoes in your home or not. Create a genkan in your home so that people have a place to sit to untie their shoes and a place to store their shoes so that other people aren't tripping over them in the walkway.

3. Offer Slippers

Some people may not be comfortable walking around in their socks or barefoot, so you may want to offer some slippers. Not only do the Japanese have genkans, but they tend to have home shoes or slippers that are only for indoor use. The slippers should keep your floors clean, and they should help your guests stay comfortable since they can retain footwear. You'll want to purchase a few different sizes to meet different guests' needs.

As you shop, look for slippers that are flexible and have slip resistant soles. Look for textiles like bamboo, since they are hypoallergenic, antimicrobial, and resistant to odors/moisture. You don't want your guests to have to wear slippers that have been repeatedly worn by others, so you'll want to invest in slippers that can be cleaned easily. Some slippers can go directly in the wash and hung out to dry, while other materials, like leather, can be wiped down with a leather conditioner and baby wipes.

If you add a mat, create a genkan, and offer indoor slippers for your guests, you'll be able to keep your home free of dirty footwear. For more information about Japanese-style home shoes, contact a seller such as Morihata.