he Repair Finder started our life as a platform to help thousands of people across the UK find trusted repairers nearer them (a baton we’ve now passed to We Are Repairs). Curious what everyone was searching for? So were we.
🔌 By Far the Biggest Category: Electrical Items
Small electrical items made up a huge 15% of all searches – and nearly a quarter of those were for toaster repairs. Toaster manufacturers, if you’re reading this: please, make them easier to repair.
Other top electrical searches included:
- Appliances (12%) – with vacuum cleaners and washing machines leading the charge (both around a third of appliance searches).
- Computers and laptops (12%)
- Consumer tech (12%) – with mobile phones being about a third of those.
⏰ Old Favourites Still Going Strong
Many people are also looking to keep items they use day in day out ticking along:
- Clocks and watches (8%)
- Furniture (6%) including chairs, tables, sofas.
- Bikes and scooters (5%) – perhaps looking for that mobile bike repairer?
- Garden equipment (5%) – with lawn mowers making up half of that.
And of course, clothing (5%) and shoes (2%) are staples completing the list.
💎 The Most Unusual Repair Request!
Every so often, a search pops up that makes us smile (or scratch our heads).
Our clear winner: a lightsaber. Yes, someone out there was looking to repair a lightsaber.
Honourable mentions go to:
- A ¼-size billiard table
- A pewter bar top
- A golf rangefinder
- A sublimation printer
- And perhaps our most ambitious request: replacing a bedroom window in a Victorian house. (That last one might be a bit outside our remit… but we hope they found a craftsman so they can brave the winter!)
📍 Where Are People Searching From?
Our most active repair regions were Buckinghamshire and Surrey (12%), likely boosted by our listing on local recycling information pages. Next up were London (10%) and Oxfordshire (5%), with the rest spread fairly evenly across the UK – proof that the desire to repair is truly nationwide.
🧵 What It All Means
The numbers may be technical, but the story behind them is deeply human. People are searching for ways to extend the life of their possessions, to learn from skilled repairers, and to make sustainable choices that feel good. Whether it’s a toaster, a watch, or — yes — a lightsaber, every repair search tells the same story: we value the things we own, and we want to keep them working.
At The Repair Finder, that’s exactly the world we want: making the repair of anything, accessible to anyone.
