BBC
Mr Fix-it
J
ay Blades, TV’s favourite furniture restorer and the king of “make do and mend”, has just surprised himself with his own skills. “I’m blown away!,” he declares from his workshop near Ironbridge in Shropshire. The reason for his delight? He’s thrilled to have made some homemade furniture polish. At a time when many of us are learning new skills, Blades – best known for presenting the breakout hit and RTS award-winner The Repair Shop – is joining in for his new 10-part BBC One show, Jay Blades’ Home Fix, screened every weekday morning. We speak as he takes a break from filming Home Fix in his large workshop, with a lone cameraman standing four metres away and zooming in for close-ups.
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Roz Laws talks to Jay Blades, presenter of zeitgeist show The Repair Shop, whose own life story offers inspiration for these troubled times Blades is showing people basic DIY skills and learning how to make everyday things we’re used to buying in the shops. He describes it as “Blue Peter meets Saturday Kitchen”. “If you can buy it, someone has made it – it hasn’t just magically appeared – and there’s no reason why you can’t, too,” he explains. “I used to
buy furniture polish, but not any more. I had to buy some ingredients. The only vinegar I had was what I put on my chips, so I had to get distilled white vinegar, but it wasn’t hard. “The show is partly about using old remedies and going back to the Second World War, when it was hard to get hold of things. And showing people how to adapt if they don’t have a drill or tools. You can make some things with cardboard if you don’t have timber. “Like many people in lockdown, I’ve been getting around to doing DIY jobs. I’ve oiled all the squeaky doors in my house. I’m over the moon with my furniture polish. It smells beautiful, too, like oranges. I’m going to make dishwasher tablets next.” Blades’ TV shows are tapping into the mood of the nation, with the way they help other people, champion
