Ironing – Maybe It’s Manly After All…

Everyone enjoys a freshly pressed shirt. It looks good and it feels good, but is ironing manly? Up to this point I would have told you no. I, much like the rest of you, thought ironing was a skill best left to grandmas and dry cleaners. Well, gentlemen, turns out we were wrong.

Let me introduce you to Extreme Ironing. Yes, you read it correctly. A sport which takes something that was previously thought to be a chore for house-wives and bachelors and turns it into something both manly and hilarious.

“The sport that is ‘extreme ironing’ is an outdoor activity that combines the danger and excitement of an ‘extreme’ sport with the satisfaction of a well pressed shirt. It involves taking an iron and board (if possible) to remote locations and ironing a few items of laundry. This can involve ironing on a mountainside, preferably on a difficult climb, or taking an iron skiing, snowboarding or canoeing.” – Extreme Ironing Bureau

Extreme Ironing was stumbled upon in the city of Leicester, UK in 1997. A guy named Phil “Steam” Shaw was returning from work to a giant pile of laundry. Laundry being the last thing he wanted to do after a long, hard day, he decided to go out climbing. This is when it ocurred to Phil that he could do both. Extreme Ironing was born.

Since then, Extreme Ironing has caught on and become a “semi-official” sport with registered members and a ruling body, the Extreme Ironing Bureau (EIB). There are also different sections which are based in Germany, New Zealand, South Africa and Colorado, US. A quick search of the EIB site brings back 3815 registered users.

To get started Extreme Ironing, all you need is an iron, a board and some wrinkly laundry. The EIB does recommend you start small, though. Try some easier terrain before you give skydiving or bungee jumping a shot.