Wicker Furniture

Rattan

Rattan is the generic name used for roughly 600 species of palms - native to tropical regions.

Unlike bamboo, rattan stems are solid offering a malleable and pliable material for use in the furniture industry.

Certain rattans can grow up to hundreds of meters long.

  • 70% of the world’s rattan grows in Indonesia.
  • Rattan is easier to harvest than timber, requires fewer tools and offer faster regrowth.
  • Rattan can range from several millimetres to 7cm in diameter.
  • Rattan is one of the few truly renewable rain forest products and grows in the tree canopies of the rain forests of South East Asia.
  • Rattan cannot grow without this forest environment and so provides practical encouragement for rattan harvesters to maintain the habitat that the rattan grows in.
  • When rattan is harvested it naturally re-grows. In short, rattan is truly self-generating.
  • The earliest known example of the rattan art dates back more than 3,000 years and is currently on exhibit in the Metropolitan Museum of Art.

The vine-like palms are long, strong and covered in thorns. To make furniture, the thorns are cut off, the outer skin is removed leaving the stems. The stems are then steamed to make them flexible, moulded in to shaped and then cooled and crafted in to rattan furniture.

Cane

Cane is the strong, slender flexible stem of tall grasses such as bamboos, reeds and rattans. The confusion in terms probably originates from gardeners calling the bamboo sticks they used for supporting plants, “canes”.

The main difference between bamboo and rattan is; bamboo is hollow, rattan is solid.

  • Cane is light yet sturdy
  • Available in natural and synthetic
  • Natural is strong, durable, attractive, and comfortable but requires some maintenance. Synthetic cane is maintenance free. Synthetic include paper-wrapped high tensile wire or plastic or resin. High suppleness, tear resistant, UV resistant and Weather resistant.
Different types of Rattan
  • Natural Rattan
  • Wicker: Refers to the weaving method used to make the furniture.
  • Twisted Banana leaf
  • Water Hyacinth - Wicker: Refers to the weaving method used to make the furniture.
Why choose rattan furniture?
  • Highly sustainable - it grows quickly and plentifully across many tropical regions.
  • Strong and resilient - it’s tough natural strength makes it durable and long lasting
  • Happy with humidity - rattan is originally from tropical forests so it feels at home in humid conservatories. In addition, all our rattan products are treated with mould resistant fibres to ensure products do not rot in damp or humid conditions.
  • Unique beauty - rattan and the wicker process creates a naturally individual item of furniture.
  • Lightweight - making rattan furniture easy to move from the conservatory to the garden whenever the sun shines.
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