Urban housework
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Urban Housework began in December of 2000 as the Urban Housework Project. It introduced Urban Vacuuming as a sport - taking a vacuum cleaner and tidying up the outdoors for the good of humanity. It was created by "Elbonio", who soon found out about Extreme Ironing, now a rival group, which celebrates the sport of ironing in extreme locales. Originally looking to work with the Extreme Ironers, the Urban Housework Project added Extreme Ironing of its own variety to its outdoor housework disciplines. The Extreme Ironing Bureau did not wish to collaborate and thus the two factions have been rivals ever since.
"Starch", the co-founder of EI, has remarked that "with extreme vacuuming you're trying to make it clean, something the outdoors isn't and shouldn't be. Spiritually I don't find it as right as ironing."
Downhill vacuuming became the primary focus of the group around 2001. Downhill vacuuming involves riding a vacuum cleaner down a slope or incline, the objective being to make the fastest time down a given track.
After the airing of a documentary on Extreme Ironing by Britain's Channel 4, the project was expanded to include suburban mop-jousting, inner city clothes drying and apocalypse dishwashing. There have been no attempts by the urban housework organizers to actually overtake the EIB as the top authority over the sport; if this were to ever happen, EIB members would be unlikely to accept a merger. The Urban Housework project and the EIB alike think of themselves as separate entities at the very least, but with a distinct clashing of interests as they both battle for the outdoor housework crown.
[edit] Urban housework in the media
This controversial new sport was featured in a sub-plot of Channel 4's Extreme Ironing documentary.
Time Out journalist Paul Murphy has previously commented on the sport.
FHM have featured Urban Housework as an example of an unusual Extreme sport.
The Daily Mirror has reviewed the website three times in Carol Vorderman's web review.
The two creators, Mark Tilbrook and James Doherty, were invited onto the live daytime chat show Loose Lips on Living TV where the host, Melinda Messenger, was shown ironing techniques and how to ride a vacuum cleaner.
