The Restart Project Podcast

This month, we had a very handy conversation with some friends from our sponsor eSpares. Eleanor Cochrane and Mariya Peynova are the Brand Manager and Social Media Manager for eSpares, respectively. We took this opportunity to properly introduce our listeners to their work and also answer a few questions about household repair and maintenance. In the process, we learned that there is probably a lot more regular maintenance that we should all be doing.

This advice came at a perfect time, as we’re encouraging everyone to give their things a new lease of life in the lead up to Repair Day on 15th October. You can learn more about how we’re celebrating and get involved here!

First, we chatted about how eSpares are empowering their customers to fix their own stuff. They tell us about the trove of repair manuals, tutorials, and more that can be found on their website. Eleanor also shares her own stories of initial DIY repairs and her experience of the concerns that many beginners will have. They hope that the content on their website and the support that they provide will give customers more confidence to give repairing a go.

“What we do try and do is educate people about their rights…this should be something that they’re entitled to. Choice is something that we should always have when it comes to machines that we have bought.”

We discuss accessibility of spare parts and the way that consumer calls for repairability have progressed over recent years. Mariya posits that due to the rising cost of living, people are more keen to repair their things. They also share an anecdote which proves that this is definitely the right thinking. One of their customers managed to repair a second-hand range oven and save thousands of pounds in the process. Eleanor and Mariya use these types of stories to prove that repair is really possible for everyone (even if manufacturers make it difficult on purpose) if you have good support and learning materials.

In the second half of the episode, Eleanor and Mariya answer repair queries sent in by the public. They share the most common and first port of call fixes that are likely to be causing the problem. A lot of these fixes are related to maintenance of your machine. They recommend that you regularly check the filter of your washing machine, tumble dryer, and vacuum cleaner. It’s a super helpful reminder and encouraging that a relatively small fix can be the answer to your machine working 100% again.

If you want to attempt any of these fixes or something more technically complicated, the information and help that you need are on the eSpares site. Eleanor tells us about all the channels that they are using to spread repair information and tutorials. There are so many written tutorials on their website, or if you are more visually inclined they also regularly post on their YouTube channel and TikTok account.

The key take away from our chat with Eleanor and Mariya is: don’t be afraid to try repair. Even if you’re not feeling confident now, there is a plethora of information out there and often, someone to offer moral support along the way. Now go clean those vacuum filters!

Links:

• eSpares website
• eSpares YouTube
• Try one of these fixes on Repair Day 2022

The post Restart Podcast Ep. 79: eSpares wants you to clean your filters appeared first on The Restart Project.