Repair Café Chicago (Sulzer Regional Library)
Chicago · Illinois
Known from press coverage in September 2025 and the café's own social page. We have not read a schedule they publish, so check the date before you go. Volunteers, not restorers: do not take anything old or irreplaceable.
A free, donation-based repair café hosted by Forward Chicago at Sulzer Regional Library in Lincoln Square on the second Saturday of each month. Volunteers restitch stuffed animals among other repairs.
Getting hold of them
- Their own site
- You can walk in at Sulzer Regional Library, 4455 N Lincoln Ave, Chicago
Walk in. There is no booking and no queue to join.
If it gets lost
Not stated
This is a blank on their page, not an answer from them. We have never asked anybody in this trade the question. Of the 194 businesses we have read, 4 have written anything down about losing an item: 2 say it is insured, 2 say the risk is yours. The other 190 are silent, and silence is not a policy either way.
If you would rather not have to phrase it
“Before I send it, can I ask what happens if it gets lost or damaged while it’s with you? I’m not trying to catch you out, it just can’t be replaced. Whatever the answer is, could you put it in an email so I’ve got it in writing?”
“No, we don’t cover it” is a fine answer to get. It tells you to insure the mail yourself for the full amount, both ways.
If it is lost or damaged
Their website does not say what happens if your item is lost or damaged while they have it.
Ask before you post anything you could not replace. Only four of the businesses we hold publish an answer to this.
What they take on
- Mending and seams
Getting it there
- Drop-off only, no mail
- You can bring it in
- Works on site. It does not go away with them.
Money
- Fixed menu of prices, so you know before you send it
Is this your business? Correct or remove this listing.