Wicker furniture -Eco-friendly materials and processes

The basic raw material that is used for manufacturing the wicker furniture is the rattan, which is a type of cane available in the forests of Indonesia, Malaysia and other Southeast Asian islands. In the production of this wicker furniture, the rattan undergoes a unique process, called ‘wicker’. This is a process that is used for molding the rattan stems to the basic shape of the furniture. The process also makes the raw stems to withstand adverse weather conditions in the later stages of furniture usage.

The term, ‘wicker’

‘Wicker’ also means the flexible branch or twig of a plant such as willow and rattan. Materials such as Rush, Fiber Rush (Paper Cord), Danish Cord, Banana, Water Hyacinth, Bamboo and other similar looking natural materials, and sometimes synthetic materials like thin strips of aluminum, brass and silver, all are also called as ‘wicker’ and the process of making them into an object is called as, ‘wickerworks’. Along with the rattan stems and the rattan skin, these raw materials are also used in the production of the wicker furniture.

Manufacturing by hand and machine

Wicker furniture are mostly made purely by hand, the usage of machine in the process is relatively very little, almost nil, except for making some jigs and fixtures. This craft has been in practice for many centuries in the Southeast Asian countries and from the 17th century onwards, European and American trading customers thought of manufacturing them in their own soil. This led to lot of innovative designs, as the European and American manufacturers, invented new machines and materials along with trendy designs and processes.

Naturally, the best

In their native atmosphere, the wicker furniture still enjoy the luxury of being crafted by skilled traditional hands, and that gives the furniture that are manufactured in those places, a subtle uniqueness, which is most sought after even in the places where their modern cousins are produced.