‘My mother kept our house pristine growing up.’ Man Wonders If It’s Wrong To Make His Guests Change Clothes Before Sitting On The Furniture

We all have our quirks, but when they start to make it hard for us to exist in the world or to invite friends into ours, it can be a red flag.

OP admits that he’s a very neat person and that his mother is, as well. He grew up helping his mom keep house and the habits have extended to his own home.

I’m 20m and I live alone. I’m a very neat person. My mother kept our house pristine growing up and I helped her for as long as I can remember.

Then, he started thinking that cleaning isn’t enough if germs and other dirt is coming in on clothing people wear outside. OP washes his own clothes immediately after arriving home, but he started thinking about guests…

I recently moved out into my own place and something that I started thinking about was how many germs from outside we track into our houses.

I always change out of my clothes as soon as I get home but whenever I have guests they don’t. And I have no idea where they’ve been or what their clothes have been exposed to.

So, he instituted a rule where guests needed to bring a change of clothes or to wear a clear plastic raincoat he purchased.

About a month ago, I bought a bunch those clear disposable rain coats and I started telling people who I invited over that they could bring a change of fresh clothes to change into or wear one of the coats before they sit on my furniture.

I also offer to wash the clothes that they change out of, if they want to.

His family and girlfriend capitulated but the first time a friend came over, he was surprised the whole thing wasn’t a joke. The friend left and hasn’t talked to OP since.

My girlfriend doesn’t have a problem with this and started just leaving clothes at my place. My mom and my little sister have also been okay with this new rule.

But I invited a friend over yesterday (I told them about the clothes thing before they came) and when they got here they were surprised that I actually enforced it and said “You’ve got to messing with me”.

I told them no, I’m serious and then they left. They haven’t been answering my messages either.

I was talking to my mom about it today and she said it was pretty excessive and unreasonable to expect everybody to do. I disagree but I’m kind of double guessing myself.

Am I in the wrong here?

I know Reddit is going to be gentle with this poor man…

The top comment very nicely says that he should probably look into therapy.

This person agrees, saying the behavior is extreme.

And this commenter has a few questions…

They agree they would not want to visit someone’s house where this was the rule.

A few people recognize these tendencies.

This man. I do hope he gets help.

It must be mentally exhausting to live this way.