7 Tips to Keep Cane Furniture in Good Condition

Cane furniture looks pretty classy. It can add a lot to the appearance of a home. With its vintage vibe, wicker or cane furniture brings more romance and nostalgia into any home. If you take good care of your furniture, it can last for years and generations. You won’t need to find a service for wicker repair or cane repairs if you take good care of it. In this blog, we have discussed 7 tips that can help you maintain the good condition of cane furniture. Let’s see what those are.
1. Moisturize the Cane Furniture
A humid surrounding or environment is ideal to keep cane furniture in good condition. If you have a humidifier in the room where you have wicker or cane furniture, that’s great for the good health of cane furniture. However, if you live in an arid region, or the climate is dry, then you can use some kind of moisturizer to compensate for the dryness. A monthly spritz is a solution that can protect the furniture for a long period. You can dilute an oil- or glycerin-based soap in water, and spray this solution on wicker chairs or cane furniture.
Make sure you spray only the hidden side of the furniture, and not the visible one. It will make the seat greasy. This moistener will relieve the wicker, and also take care of squeaky voices that wicker might make due to excessive dryness. Dry rattan or wicker breaks off too easily.
2. Minimize the Sunlight Exposure
Wicker or cane furniture is equally good for indoors as well as outdoors. However, putting it in direct sunlight will affect its quality and damage wicker. Sunlight or too much heat can dry the rattan, making it more prone to tearing and breaking. Try to put cane chairs under shade if you decide to use wicker furniture for outdoor living. You can also use cushions to prevent the furniture from receiving too much sunlight or heat. This can help prolong the life of furniture significantly.
3. Disperse the weight across the seat
You might think it is not in your control to manage your weight while using furniture, but the truth is that you can do it pretty easily. One way of doing this is using cushions. They can become the direct surface experiencing the weight; therefore the load does not remain at one point. Consistent weight at one point might make the seat bulge. Within no time this bulge will become the point where the seat will weaken due to loose rattan.
With some more effort, you can protect the seat from bulging altogether. Attaching a plywood piece underneath the cushions will prevent the wicker seat from receiving the weight directly.
Also, you must avoid concentrating on weight at one point. For example, a knee or elbow pressed against the knitted part can damage it. Don’t use it as a stool that you can climb on to reach higher places because you will have to chair cane repairs more often.
4. Put coating on one side only
If you want to paint or varnish the cane furniture, we suggest applying the liquid on one side only. For better health of the wicker furniture, leave the other side. Applying paint on both sides can make the strings dry can crack easily. Leaving one side will let the furniture breathe. Since only the front side matters because people can see what is visible to them, you can conveniently leave the back from painting or varnishing. This will add to the life of cane furniture and also reduce the need for caning repairs.
5. Fix the Sagging Seat
It is normal for a wicker seat to develop a bulge or sag. Prolonged usage can cause bulging, calling for the need for cane repairs. Before the sagging gets beyond a certain limit, you must fix it to prevent it from getting damaged forever. The bulge causes the wicker ropes on the inside of the wooden edge will receive more pressure.
To treat the sagging of cane furniture either spray the wicker work with warm water or dip a cloth in warm water and place it on the bulge by turning the chair upside down. Leave the wet cloth like this for at least one night. Let the cloth dry on its own. Once it is dry, remove the cloth and put the chair upright. But it is not ready to be used yet. Give it 2 more days so that the treated rattan gets stable and tight. The rattan on the inside of wooden edges will remain protected from getting damaged.
6. Choose the right environment for storage
If you don’t need cane furniture for now, and there is a need for putting cane furniture in storage, it is important to store it in the right environment. Choose a dry place that is not too close to the wall. A damp or humid environment can lead to the formation of mildew and fungus. Make sure that you put furniture in a place where it gets adequate air. For the same reason, we suggest that it should not be put in the basement or cornered right by the wall.
7. Keep away from water
While setting furniture in your home, make sure not to put it in a place that remains in touch with water. Considering this tip, avoid putting it in the lawn close to the grass because this can lead to mold or mildew. The ideal spot for cane furniture is under brick and slate patios because they allow water to drain quickly.
If the furniture collects mold anyways, you can treat it with a strong solution of water and bleach, or hydrogen peroxide. The intricate knitting that has collected mold can be cleaned with a hydrogen peroxide dipped swab. Make sure you don’t use bleach or hydrogen peroxide on the wooden frame otherwise its color and polish will come off. Once you have cleaned the mold, rinse thoroughly and dry outdoors in the sunshine.
Sometimes the damage is far too big. Don’t risk the beauty and functionality of furniture by adopting a DIY approach. Instead, go for caning repairs to a professional repair center.
Jardin Wicker is a reputable name for cane repair and wicker repair. To know more about us, visit our website. Our services include caning repair, machine caning repair, wicker repair, rattan repair, splint seat reweaving, rush seating, binder cane, Shaker tape, hickory seating, Danish cord weaving, and more.