Ironing Board Covers

Extreme Ironing (or EI) is an extreme sport and a performance art in which people take an ironing board to a remote location and iron a few items of clothing. According to the official website, extreme ironing is more...

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Part of the attraction and interest the media has towards extreme ironing seems to centre on the issue of whether it is really a sport or not. It is widely considered to be tongue-in-cheek.

Some locations where such performances have taken place include a mountainside of a difficult climb; a forest; in a canoe; while skiing or snowboarding; on top of large bronze statues; in the middle of a street; underwater; whilst parachuting; under the ice cover of a lake; and in warzones. The performances have been conducted solo or by groups.

The Guardian said of extreme ironing that it carries on a tradition of British eccentricity.

History

Before heading into the mainstream, extreme ironing was used by the band Monster Magnet in the video for their song "Negasonic Teenage Warhead" from their album Dopes to Infinity (1995) (this useage was most likely unintentional, as the video features the band members performing perfectly ordinary activities on asteroids). However, purists of the sport will claim that it was started in 1997 in Leicester, East Midlands, England by resident Phil Shaw in his back garden. Shaw came home from what he recalls as a hard day in a Leicester knitwear factory. Preferring the idea of an evening out rock climbing, he decided to combine the two activities into a new extreme sport. In June 1999, Shaw, who uses the nickname "Steam", embarked on an international tour to promote the activity. The stops included the United States of America, Fiji, New Zealand, Australia and South Africa. An encounter with German tourists in New Zealand led to the formation of a group called "Extreme Ironing International", and the German Extreme Ironing Section or GEIS.

As extreme ironing has branched off, the conditions can gain in extreme activity. For example a branch of ironing has been developed that includes both bungee jumping and well-pressed clothing. Bungee ironing is, what some would call, the ultimate in the thrill of extreme ironing.

A documentary, titled Extreme Ironing, was filmed for Britain's Channel 4. The programme concentrates on the rivalry between the EIB (Extreme Ironing Bureau) and a breakaway group called Urban Housework. It was later aired on the National Geographic Channel.

Read more at Wikipedia.org