If you need help fixing your tech, appliances, or even a stubborn zipper, chances are there’s a Repair Café nearby willing and able to help.
A Worldwide Movement
As a repair community ourselves, we at iFixit took notice of the Repair Café initiative almost immediately. We were delighted to hear about local groups who were able to share expertise with their neighbors and fix more stuff. And more than that, we were convinced that visitors create a “better connection to their things and to each other” by tackling the repair together with more experienced repairers. Initiatives like Repair Café make repair more accessible and tangible. The closer the connection people have to their stuff, the more thought they will put into repairing and discarding those things. Repair keeps things out of landfills, and Repair Cafés keep things repaired.
The first Repair Café was initiated by former journalist and activist Martine Postma in Amsterdam in 2009. Following its runaway success, she established the Repair Café Foundation to support local groups in hosting their own Repair Café. Since then, the number of local repair communities and Repair Cafés across the world has exploded.
A decade later, there are more than 2,200 of them around the world: in the Netherlands, France, Belgium, the United Kingdom, the United States, South Africa, and tech hubs like India and Japan. What unites the global movement is the shared idea of a less-wasteful use of resources.
Repair is Teamwork
iFixit partnered with the Repair Café Foundation way back in 2015. We offer Repair Cafés discounts on both tools and replacement parts ordered from our iFixit Europe location. We also support new Repair Cafés with tools and in-person events. In 2019, we supplied 100 Repair Cafés and related repair communities around the globe with repair tool grants.
But tools are only one part of the puzzle. Thanks to our latest collaboration, step-by-step guides created by the iFixit community are now available through the Repair Café website. Knowledge is power, and iFixit guides can bring the wisdom and experience of the global repair community to your local repair experts. These guides are a great way to preview repair procedures before heading to your local Repair Café—and to ensure you’ve got everything you need.
iFixit is happy to invest in the global repair community. Together, we can repair anything! We look forward to many more years together, and many more improvements to the repair experience.
Feeling inspired? Why not share your knowledge by writing a tutorial on our platform? Want to get out there in person? Try joining or starting a Repair Café near you—we guarantee you’ve got neighbors itching to repair their appliances. While tech these days may not be the most repairable, France has already taken a first step by mandating a reparability index since 2021. More fixable, more fixes, less waste!
Onwards! To a more environmentally friendly future. We’ve got this.
Donations from our Black Friday Sale
No matter how much fixing experience you have and what you are trying to repair, you may need more than the right screwdriver for your project one day. That is why for every Black Friday Bundle sold we will donate 1€ to Repair Café. Whether you are still starting out on your fixing career or you are already a practiced DIY enthusiast or repair pro; whether you feel more at home on the road or in your gaming cave—this way you can support a good cause and save money at the same time. Join us in celebrating repair this Black Friday!
Updated in November 2022.
One Comment
Trust me, replacing ONLY the LCD is a much more difficult task. Plus the device would never be water resistant again. It would also add about 2 hours to the repair for an experienced technician. The repairability is much better this way with only the back glass seal to work about.
Conestrat - Reply