A nonlinear repetitive controller is proposed. The new method is mainly composed of a repetitive control part and a deadband relay. Whenever the input error goes beyond the range of the deadband relay, the control loop is driven dominantly by the deadband relay to obtain fast dynamic response and meanwhile to avoid the saturation of the repetitive control part. After the input error falls within the range of the deadband relay, the deadband relay automatically turns off and the repetitive control alone governs the current control to eliminate the steady state error. A systematic methodology is established and it is linked to the conventional control system design. The proposed scheme is practically applied to the current control of active filter. Experimental results verified the feasibility of the proposed method.