I Didn’t Expect This “Gimmicky” Cleaning Tool to Work — Now, I Swear By It

Whether or not shoes are allowed to be worn in the house is among the most hotly debated home controversies. 

In addition to the benefit of keeping the house cleaner, though, there are repercussions to maintaining a shoes-off household. One obvious situation is how to ask guests to take off their shoes. I’ve done everything from printing out and framing a pretty sign that says “shoes off please,” to leaving our shoes out as a (hopefully) obvious hint, to just straight-up either asking or letting it go (and cringing the entire time, if I’m honest). 

Another consequence of having a shoes-off home is that you’re inevitably going to be walking around on some dirt and crumbs. Floors get dirty from things inside the house, after all — especially in the kitchen. Add to this the sand and dirt that still gets tracked into the house from the outdoors, especially if you have pets, and you’re going to be stepping on some gritty things, either in your socks or bare feet, and it doesn’t feel good.

The answer to both of these issues is simple: slippers! Having some slippers on hand for your guests is a great way to make them feel less self-conscious about being barefoot and also might offer another kind of subtle hint that shoes should come off. Slippers also prevent that icky stepping-on-dirt feeling in between vacuuming and mopping sessions. Most shoes-off households have a pretty good slipper collection. 

As the weather has cooled down, I’ve been keeping an eye out for some slipper sets that I could have available for our family and for guests. So even though they’re kind of silly, when I saw these microfiber slippers on Instagram, I couldn’t resist trying them out. 

The more I looked into them, the better they sounded. Size isn’t a concern, as they fit most people, from kids to adults. My family could use them and we could also have them ready for guests to slip on. They are washable, so we can always have fresh pairs ready, and they can also be used as shoe covers, which is great for when contractors come to the house. And, let’s be real — handing a pair of these fuzzy bad boys to anyone would defuse any please-don’t-wear-your-shoes-in-my-house awkwardness with some laughter. All of this isn’t even to mention the other huge perk of these awesome slippers: They clean your floor while you wear them!

When we got the slippers, the kids were immediately intrigued. The colors are bright, and they recognized them as mop-like because of the similar dusting mitt we have. I told them we could mop with our feet and they were totally on board. 

So how well did they work? First off, let me say that these would obviously pick up the most dirt and dust if they were worn regularly — not just for a “cleaning session.” But even during our first brief experiment, they picked up a good deal of dirt and we had fun sliding around together on the front hallway floor. It was a moment. 

But I actually got some good cleaning done. Having the slippers on encouraged me to dust areas that aren’t the easiest to dust with more typical methods. For instance, I found myself running my feet along the baseboards, and these mop slippers were one of the best baseboard-dusting methods I’ve tried! I was able to kind of point my toes into the corners and get the dust that gathers there that’s really hard to get even with a damp rag. Who knew?

I also slid my feet along the kickboards in the kitchen and underneath our shoe cabinets. Getting the dust with my mop slipper-clad feet was so much easier than vacuuming, sweeping, or dusting under furniture. I also thought of how they’d be able to function like Hawaiian foot dust mop slippers do when I drip things on the kitchen floor. (Afterwards, they’re super easy to throw in the wash.)  

These unique slippers are truly multi-purpose and not just for show. They can make our guests feel more comfortable, they keep our own feet from coming into contact with the dirt we can’t keep off the floors, and they even help pick up that dirt! All around, these mop slippers are a whimsical win.

Buy: Tamicy Mop Slippers Shoes, 5 Pairs, $11.89