It's almost time to bring out the porch furniture and get the 3-season room opened up. In some areas of the US, spring is well underway. Living in Erie, along the lakeshore of Lake Erie, winters tend to stick around. Like most of my neighbors, we are well over the snow and are getting primed for the spring season. We got one of the late season snows yesterday. Just a nuisance snow. They say that we can expect 3 snows on the crocuses before the spring is here to stay, but I haven't even seen the crocuses yet. Despite what folks think, we do get four seasons in this area of the US; Almost Winter (fall), Winter, Still Winter (spring), and Road Construction (summer).
I am starting to get some calls about wicker and summer furniture that needs to be repaired. This is a good time to inventory what needs to be done in order to ready the summer furniture for the upcoming grilling and outdoor occasions you and your family enjoy.
Wicker and Rattan furniture are wonderul pieces to showcase a welcoming porch, 3-seson room, or entryway in a home. This furniture is woven with natural fibers, so there is chance that the strands of reed will get broken. Over time, the natural moisture and oils in the reed and chair frames gets lost. In some cases, where the reed is not treated with a shellac or the painted over with an enamel, you should take a soft brush and cloth to clean the surface. You can also do a light spraying of your wicker with water. Wipe the woven panels to cleam the dust.
There are cases where water is not recommended. The Bar Harbor or open wicker weave furniture should not be exposed to moisture. These pieces are ususally woven with a twisted paper cord, called fiber rush. The spokes are normally paper-wrapped wire and the weavers are twisted kraft paper. If these chairs have not been treated with a shellac or varnish, do not spray these chairs with water.
You may consider spraying the Bar Harbor pieces with a light coating of varnish or shellac. Shellac is a natural finish and does break down over time. If the weavings of the Bar Harbor furniture have not be painted, you should use a soft brush to clean the woven panels, arms, back, and sides, then use an aerosol spray can of varish or shellac to provide the chair with some protection. Fiber Rush is merely paper, so the finish will not harm the weaving materials at all.
Many of the 3-season furniture pieces I see have been painted or stained and finished with varnish or shellac. For the natural wicker and rattan furniture, the paint and finish seals the reed. The reed will dry out and water won't be able to penetrate the paint or finish, so the reed gets brittle. The arms of the chairs are the first to see the wear and tear. There is little that can be done to keep the reed from getting brittle in these cases. Repair and refurbishing usually means replacing sections of the chair and then repainting the chair to match the 'original.'
Wicker has an interesting history. Many believe that wicker is an oriental furniture. The fact is, wicker furniture was started right here in the northeast United States. Cyrus Wakefield began making wicker furniture from the left over waste material (used for ballast in the merchant ships) that was left on the docks in Boston. Now, today much of the wicker comes from southeast Asia, but there are many small family-owned businesses that continue to make wicker and rattan furniture here in the US.
Be proud of your wicker's heritage and take care of it throughout the year.
Looking forward to a great outdoor season.
Charles and Florence Elliott
TaleWeavers
Posted at: 12:38 PM | Add Comment