It’s been a long day and by the time you finally arrive home, there’s only one thing on your mind. Kick those feet up, and take a load off! But before you kick those feet up, there’s one thing you need to do in order to keep your family safe—something many people overlook.

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It’s a simple, yet significant, step to safeguard your home and family: disinfecting your shoes at the door.

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Picture this: a sickening trail of germs, mold, and other dangerous pathogens clinging to your shoe soles, waiting to spread in your home. When you wear your shoes into the house, you’re spreading samples of every single floor that you’ve stepped or walked on during the day.

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That public bathroom at the gas station? Bacteria from those urine and feces particles on the floor can remain on your shoes for weeks. That walmart parking lot? Same thing.

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In fact, germs live a much better life on our shoe soles than on other surfaces. Germs can live on the bottom of your shoes for weeks if you don’t regularly disinfect them at the door.

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The bottoms of our shoes are some of the most contaminated surfaces that we ever interact with in our lives. We move through our lives, unknowingly spreading dangerous pathogens in our wake.

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Why Disinfect Your Shoes at the Door?

One of the most important reasons to use a shoe disinfecting routine when you arrive home is to safeguard your family’s health.

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Scientific research tells us that shoe soles can harbor dangerous pathogens like E. coli, staph, and even COVID-19. These pathogens can pose serious health risks, especially to the elderly, immuno-compromised, or children.

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Every time you walk into your house without disinfecting your shoes, you spread these pathogens across your living space. But is this really something to be concerned about? After all, you don’t eat your dinner on the ground. You mop once a week. How dangerous could it be?

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Harvard Hospital ran a study that confirmed germs don’t just stay on the floor. They circulate through the air, landing on important surfaces like kitchen counters, sinks, furniture, and even pillows. This makes sense if you take time to think about it: how much dust do you see kicked up in the air when you turn a fan on? Germs are much smaller than dust. It takes far less airflow to spread them.

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In fact, bacteria on the floor is sent airborne every time you walk through a room, mop, or turn on the air conditioner. They spread more easily than you think, much farther than you think. Even if you only wear your shoes into your entry room and take them off before entering the rest of the house, you’re not avoiding whole-home contamination. Pathogens can spread alarmingly quickly from room to room in your house—even if they’re separated by doors and walls.

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Protecting the safety of your home starts right at the front door. Taking your shoes off when you come inside simply isn’t enough. To maintain a sanitary living space, you need to integrate a shoe disinfecting habit into your daily routine. Otherwise, our whole house risks contamination on a daily basis.

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How to Disinfect Your Shoes at the Door

There are many ways to disinfect your shoes. In the past, some people have used disinfecting wipes or sprays, although they give incomplete coverage. Still, it’s better than nothing!

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Some people prefer to wash their shoes in the washing machine to sanitize them—although this is only possible for certain kinds of shoes like tennis shoes. Even then, you can’t wash them every single day or your shoes will begin to come apart very quickly.

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This is why so many people have been opting for shoe-disinfecting smart mats like the ShoeTizer. An automated device like this is the best and most sustainable option for comprehensively disinfecting your shoes. It doesn’t damage your shoes. It takes only a few seconds to fully disinfect. And it is far more effective at killing pathogens, toxins, and fungus than most other cleaners.

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Regardless of how you choose to disinfect your shoes, the most important thing is that you do it regularly. For that, you’re going to need to build a daily habit.

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Building A Shoe Disinfecting Daily Routine

Building any new habit can be challenging. Even when you have a strong “why” to motivate you!

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Here are a few tips on making shoe hygiene a part of your daily routine.

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Be specific. Define your habit clearly. Don’t just say “I want to be better about cleaning my shoes.” Instead, specify when, where, and how you’ll do it.

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For example: “Every day, I will disinfect my shoes immediately after walking in the door, before putting my shoes away.”

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It’s important to commit to doing this habit every time for it to stick. One missed day quickly turns into two, which turns into three, and before long you have a contaminated house that keeps your family in a revolving door of illness and poor health. Consistency is especially important when it comes to setting rules and standards for young children. If they don’t have to do it every time, soon they will be doing it none of the time.

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Building a habit like this doesn’t just safeguard the health of your family though. It can also relieve the home-cleaning burden on you. If you disinfect your shoes at the door every single time you come home, you won’t need to mop or disinfect surfaces nearly as often to maintain a sanitary home. Think of it like an investment in yourself.

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Disinfect Daily

If you want to maintain a safe, clean space for your family, you should disinfect your shoes at the door every day when you get home. Do your part in halting the spread of dangerous diseases like influenza, COVID-19, and bronchitis. By eliminating contamination on your shoes, you eliminate one of the top sources of contamination in the modern world. Your family, your health, and your community will thank you for it.

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Building a healthier, cleaner life begins right at your doorstep.