Outsourcing Chores? No More. In Lean Times, More Go the DIY Route.

Kathleen Hoppe used to send her blouses to the dry cleaner and had the luxury of a cleaning lady every couple of weeks. But now the retired nurse from Southwest Washington is finding it hard to live on her fixed income and shrunken 401(k). So she's made recessionary domestic adjustments: dusting off her iron and scouring her own sink.

"In some ways this experience is bringing people back to real values," Hoppe, 66, says while shopping at Target in Columbia Heights recently. She was looking for a grill top to extend the life of her Weber because she's cooking at home more.

Living in a battered economy has forced many newly penny-pinching Americans to fire their housekeepers, can the professional carpet cleaning and cut back on yard service. It's back to work at home, and many aren't whining about it.

"People are stopping the subcontracting of their chores," says Ehsan Alipour, founder and chief executive of Oliso, a maker of irons. "We have seen a rise in first-time iron buyers. . . . Lots of firefighters, police officers and waiters are doing their own pressing."

The recession is forcing consumers with no jobs or tanked portfolios to fend for themselves. Carol Joynt, owner of the recently closed Nathans restaurant in Georgetown, has blogged about fixing her own toilets. Jean Olive, an unemployed Wheaton mom, is saving on energy bills by laundering clothes every two weeks instead of once a week and runs the dishwasher only when every inch of every rack is filled.

Filmmaker and former news anchor Del Walters says he dumped the yearly mulching service ($2,300) on his five-acre Leesburg property and is himself spreading free mulch he gets from the county. Walters and his wife, Robin, also eliminated their weekly cleaning service. "We are trying to be creative and skinny things down," says Robin Walters, who works for IBM. "And once the economy rebounds, we won't go back to spending all that money."

Trend forecaster A.J. Riedel, author of the Housewares TrendTracker report, says 55 percent of respondents to a recent poll said they would not go back to old spending habits should the economy perk up. "The main reason is because they have found out that they can do just fine using less," she says. "They realize they had gotten a little out of control in spending, and now they want to replenish their nest eggs. Life is uncertain."

Businesses are also adjusting to the new frugality.

Mia Gallina, owner of the Green Mop, an eco-friendly cleaning company in Arlington, has lost about 10 percent of her 1,000 clients since the fall. Remaining customers have slashed the frequency of cleanings, or are scheduling only when things are a total mess or for a SWAT-team cleaning blitz before a big event.

Some customers who canceled are still employed. "In many cases, it was driven by fear and a new awareness of their purse strings," Gallina says of her business downturn. "People are upfront and not embarrassed about it."

Ann Hargrove, a spokeswoman for the National Cleaners Association, says that with more people out of work, many of her group's 3,000 members are seeing business slide. More consumers spend their days in shorts and T-shirts, she says, and others squeeze an additional wear or two out of clothing before getting it professionally cleaned. Still, there are plenty who draw the line at washing and ironing dress shirts. "People have to look good more than ever now," she says.

Meanwhile, companies that help people do their own chores are seeing a spurt in business.