Urban housework

An alleged breakaway group from the Extreme Ironing crowd is Urban Housework. Unlike with the Extreme Ironing Bureau's (EIB) sport, which involves performing the else wise tedious house work of ironing, taking it outdoors, vacuuming the environment is considered by most to be an unethical, unnecessary task. The sport requires participants, known as suckers, to vacuum in the great outdoors. Though no direct studies have been completed on this topic, it is believed that this action will cause damage to the natural recycling of decaying plant matter.

Journalists, including Time Out's own Paul Murphy have 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."

This controversial new sport was featured in a sub-plot of Channel 4's Extreme Ironing documentary.