What is the Difference Between Wicker and Rattan?
nterestingly enough, enough people have asked this question to warrant its inclusion on many furniture companies’ FAQ lists. There is a definite difference between wicker and rattan, but you’re going home with a wicker recliner or rattan dog bed nevertheless. What we’re really talking about is a product versus a process. In its original form, rattan is a relative of the tropical palm tree. Rattan starts to grow upwards like a tree, but then bends back to the ground and snakes through the rain forest like a vine. After a few years of growth, the rattan vines are cut into 12 to 18 foot (about 3.7 to 5.5 meters) sections and hauled away for drying. Furniture companies who specialize in wicker or rattan furniture often have processing plants in the Philippines or Southeast Asia to treat the rattan and ship it out to large furniture manufacturing plants in America. North Carolina has a significant number of wicker and rattan furniture companies. Rattan is considered to be one of the stronge
Interestingly enough, enough people have asked this question to warrant its inclusion on many furniture companies’ FAQ lists. There is a definite difference between wicker and rattan, but you’re going home with a wicker recliner or rattan dog bed nevertheless. What we’re really talking about is a product versus a process. In its original form, rattan is a relative of the tropical palm tree. Rattan starts to grow upwards like a tree, but then bends back to the ground and snakes through the rain forest like a vine. After a few years of growth, the rattan vines are cut into 12 to 18 foot (about 3.7 to 5.5 meters) sections and hauled away for drying. Furniture companies who specialize in wicker or rattan furniture often have processing plants in the Philippines or Southeast Asia to treat the rattan and ship it out to large furniture manufacturing plants in America. North Carolina has a significant number of wicker and rattan furniture companies. Rattan is considered to be one of the strong
Wicker is a catch phrase for any woven product. A piece of wicker furniture can be made of rattan, sea-grass, willow or it can be even made of plastic or resin wicker. Rattan is a vine that grows primarily in the jungles of Southeast Asia. The vines can grow up to 500 feet long. Pound per pound, rattan is stronger than steel. When left in its 1.5″-2.5″ Diameter, the pole of the rattan is used to form the frame of rattan furniture. The pole of the rattan can also be cut into smaller strands and woven into wicker furniture.
Wicker is a catch-all term for any woven product. A piece of wicker furniture can be made of rattan, seagrass, peel, or it can be even made of plastic or resin wicker. Rattan is a vine that grows primarily in the jungles of southeast Asia. The vines can grow up to 500 feet long. Pound per pound, rattan is stronger than steel. When left in its 1.5″-2.5″ Diameter, the pole of the rattan is used to form the frame of rattan furniture. The pole of the rattan can also be cut into smaller strands and woven into wicker furniture.
Wicker is not a substance or material. Instead it is a specific type of weave. Wicker comes from a swedish word “wiki”, which means to bend. All of our indoor wicker is made from rattan. To make the best quality indoor wicker, a rattan pole is inserted into a device (after it is steamed and straightened out) and it comes out as spaghetti at the other end. Then it is hand woven into wicker furniture. There are many different qualities of wicker. Most wicker sold in the U.S are 2mm to 3mm thick. Here at tropical designs, we only seem 3mm to 5mm thick. Our bedroom furniture is wicker woven over a solid-wood frame (no partical board). And our livingroom furniture is wicker and rattan bolted to a solid wood frame.
