Richmond Vacuum and Sewing Center

I was very pleased with the service I received at this small, locally-owned shop. My vacuum died. I figured it might cost almost as much to repair as it would to buy a new one. I had no emotional attachment to this necessary machine. My concern is dumping rather than repairing any machinery. I put the dead vacuum in my car and drove to this shop to check my options.

The owner waited on me and was very helpful. I told him about my floors and he found a vacuum that was reasonably priced and would be perfect for my house. He took my old one and lowered the price of the new one. I liked that the old vacuum would somehow be: recycled, used for parts, or maybe a new one for someone else.

The store was surprisingly busy. It is difficult to park nearby. I did rather enjoy rolling vacuums to and from my car along 23rd Street.

The business owner helped my daughter repair/service an older machine and he gave her a really reasonable price. She will be returning to him for future needs.

This is the little Mom and Pop place that you've been looking for to fix your broken vacuum cleaners. And also where to get a fair price on a new one if your old one is beyond repair.

My parents' Bissel carpet cleaner was clogged so we brought it here for fixing. Only $50 and a couple weeks. We also brought my aunt's super old, possibly antique vacuum but it was beyond repair. Wilson the owner said they don't even make parts for something like that anymore. So we left it with him to donate.

We bought a brand new vacuum here and the pricing was reasonable, plus it feels good to support a local business instead of the usual Big Box store. While there, my dad needed a bathroom and even though they didn't have a public restroom, they let him use theirs and I so appreciate it! Plus they have the CUTEST little doggie here, Oreo. So friendly and sweet.

I previously wrote a review for Richmond Sew & Vac but it was removed without notification to me.

In June 2021, I experienced a problem with my 20-year-old Brother portable sewing machine. I decided to also bring in a 60-year-old Singer Featherweight that a friend had curb-scored for me which had some thread clogged around the bobbin and was missing a belt.

I was aghast at the cost -- $175 to service the Featherweight -- for a total of $270 for both machines. Not knowing any better about pricing, I didn't feel I had a choice after making the trek out to Richmond just to get the estimate and leave. It's not like there are a ton of options in the immediate area.

The Brother sewing machine seems to be doing "ok" but the Featherweight had a round belt on it like a rubber band. My ignorance is my downfall here. I also noticed that the tensioner was set at "0" and asked about it and got sort of a grunt and a shrug from the technician when I asked about that.

I have been using the Featherweight, with the tension set at "0", and noticing a few temperamental quirks. Since I only have used it about 8-10 times, I was pretty surprised that the motor seemed to be slowing down. I checked the manual and discovered: belt being too tight could be the problem. I got a screwdriver to give it more space but guess what? It was already at the closest position.

In December 2023, I took my sewing machine to Village Sewing Center in Santa Rosa where John, the owner, immediately identified several problems with my Featherweight resulting directly from Wilson's attempt to service it:

1. First, the cost for the servicing of $175 - he was shocked and wanted to know "What did he DO to it?" - Apparently the bare minimum.

2. The belt is basically a rubber band - not the flat belt that allows proper adjustment and doesn't put inappropriate stress on the machine. This is a popular machine with widely available parts. There's no excuse for this failure.

2. Bobbin tension can be adjusted with a screw -- he showed me how to do this correctly.

3. Top thread tensioner should not be at "0" -- he took it apart, adjusted and reassembled it, fine tuning the tension on the bobbin tension.

4. Showed me the points for lubrication and demonstrated a couple of other items that were missed in Wilson's $175 Featherweight servicing.

My total cost? $9.86 for the actual Singer Featherweight belt and the machine runs like a dream and it took less than 10 minutes (compared to the two weeks it took to get my Singer Featherweight back from Richmond Vacuum & Sewing Center).

I am extremely unhappy with the results and the cost and will not recommend this shop to anyone with a sewing machine.

Came here after a two bad experiences with The Vacuum Shop. Honesty always wins me over; this place took care of my Dyson without hastle!

What a great company! Everything nowadays seems to be disposable but great appliances should last forever. They repaired our well loved 25+year old Miele White Star vacuum ( burned out motor) when everyone else said not to bother. Thanks again!

Great vacuum repair place. They fixed a 20 year old Kenmore canister vacuum that I was about to give up on. So happy to have saved it. I will definitely go back.

Wilson is a genius. I took my 36 year old Bernina 1130 sewing machine to him with not much hope that it could be fixed. I was told by another repair shop that it couldn't be. Alas, he repaired it and it works like a dream as if it was new out of the box. He took great care of it while at his shop. The cost was so reasonable. Very nice fella besides! Thank you, Wilson!

I brought my miele vacuum here to get fixed at least 3 years ago after a place in Napa was going to charge $300 and a place in Petaluma said replace it. The vaccum was expensive and i had hardly used it s decided to give this place a final go. I cant recall completely what the issue was . Perhaps the on/off switch and the cord rewinder.
At any rate, Wilson fixed it no problem! For $110 less than what Napa had quoted and it is still working just fine! i certainly didn't need to replace it!!
I didn't want to write a review too soon but want to say thank you and bravo for Wilson's honesty and quality work.

Fixed my old Miele up fine. Did what they said they were going to do and did it on time. A nice mom-and-pop business with no hype and no pressure. Glad to have found it.