How To's & Quick Tips > Care and Cleaning Keep Wicker Wonderful A popular choice for spaces indoors and out, wicker furniture and accessories can provide years of comfort and enjoyment if properly maintained. Wicker furniture and accessories are very popular choices for living spaces both outdoors and in. Comfortable, sturdy, and attractive, wicker comes in a wide variety of colors and patterns, making it complementary of countless decorating schemes. A natural product, wicker is a weave of reeds and plant fibers and as such, it requires specialized care to looks its best. Some approaches may be used on all types of wicker, while others are suitable for either outdoor or indoor pieces only. • Remove any cushions and clean them separately, according to the manufacturer’s instructions, as proper care varies by fabric type. • Regular dusting with a soft cloth, microfiber duster, or feather duster helps keep any type of wicker looking great. • For heavier dust, use a small soft-bristled paintbrush;
to remove dirt from those crevices where wicker meets the furniture frame, switch to an old toothbrush. • Regularly clean wicker furniture with the brush attachment of your vacuum, being sure to set the suction to its lowest level to avoid causing damage. • Wicker pieces need a more thorough cleaning once or twice a year. Moisten a microfiber cloth or terry towel (or even a clean sock) with warm water, then gently rub the wicker surface, top and bottom. • For heavier dirt and stains, wipe with a cleaning cloth that’s been lightly moistened with warm water and mild soap; wipe again with plain water. • To eliminate mold or mildew, wipe with a mixture of 25% white vinegar and 75% water, then wipe again with plain water. • Before replacing the cushions, allow wicker to dry thoroughly in the sun; alternatively, use a hair dryer to hasten the process. • An effective all-purpose cleaning solution for outdoor wicker furniture is 1/4 cup of liquid dish soap and two cups of warm water.
Wipe the wicker with a soft cloth or sponge, then rinse away the soapy suds with a garden hose. For mold and mildew removal, add one cup of white vinegar to the solution. • For tough dirt and stains, use the same solution in combination with a soft brush; an old toothbrush will help you get into the nooks and crannies. Afterward, make sure to rinse thoroughly with plain water and dry thoroughly. • When outdoor wicker is extremely dirty, use a hand steam-cleaner. Once you’ve steam-cleaned the entire piece, dry it thoroughly with a hair dryer (otherwise, wicker might bend or become deformed). For the very best results, steam-clean wicker furniture on a sunny, windy day to ensure quick drying. Related: Wicker Gone Wild: 10 Easy Ways to Transform Old into New • Avoid damaging wicker furniture by being careful not to press too hard on its slats. • If you have damaged or broken slats, make repairs with wood glue, allowing ample time for the glue to dry before continuing to clean.
Of course, if the damage is extensive, you may have to take the piece to a professional. • Do not use a stiff brush, a steel wool pad, or any harsh abrasives on wicker. Doing so could severely damage unfinished, natural wicker and could remove the protective finish from a lacquered piece. • Never saturate or let water pool on wicker, as moisture can result in either spotting or deformity, or both. Just a modicum of regular maintenance and cleaning will ensure that your wicker furniture and accessories provide many years of comfort and enjoyment.Arts, Rush & Cane Original & imaginative Arts & Crafts, high quality traditional Chair Seating and Tuition using natural materials Cranborne Chase Woodfair 2009 CANE***This is a guide: I need to see the chair to price accurately*** I will quote from photos but this quote will be only a guide price. A new seat will last c.40 years with ‘normal’ (i.e. sitting only!) use. Please note - A cane seat should always be used with a cushion - cane panels are beautiful, but essentially only act as a suspension for a cushioned seat.
Prices quoted above are subject to change without notice if the price of the raw materials changes.Cane seats and panels are priced by the hole. the holes drilled through the perimeter of the wooden frame. Tip: To count holes, look underneath; the bottom or back of the holes should have a ‘sewn’ or ‘stitched’ appearance and the holes are easier to see, especially if the top is finished with ‘Beading’ (see below). Holes through the frame Chair pricing Guide Prices include cleaning, minor repairs & basic re-finishing where required. Larger repairs such as re-gluing of joints, and staining or re-colouring wood are charged at £10/hr.Seagrass, Riempie and other cord seating in various patterns - please contact me for a quote. Prices are for replacement of whole panels. Minimum charge for hand caned panel: £50. An average seat starts at min. 70 - 80 holes. Average cost c. £85 Through Holes = £1.10 per hole (Up to 100 holes) 100+ holes = £1.20 per holeBlind Holes = £1.50 per hole
(Usually side or back panels where the cane is not visible at the back) Double Caning = £1.50 per hole, but count all of each panel’s holes every time.Elaborate shapes – Circular & Sunrise, etc = number of holes +20%. Medallion = holes + 30%Machine or Loom cane = from £50/panel (Chairs have a perimeter groove into which the pre-woven cane is set. Time and careful work is needed to remove the old cane and clear this groove of cane and old glue before replacement). Please do not ask for an old (holed) cane seat to be ‘converted’ to take a loom cane sheet!Beading = £10 per seat/panel over 90 holes only. This is the wide edging strip sewn in place to finish off the seat. As a convention this became common after c.1860 to the present. On Regency and older chairs it is mostly absent. In general, where back or arm & seat share the same holes, treat each panel as a separate entity, i.e. the shared holes will be counted twice. I have to weave each panel separately and the more cane that shares a hole, the more time is involved in carefully working the strands to make room and avoid breakages.
Thus there is an extra time charge for replacement of a panel sharing holes with another, intact, panel. Repairs to cane panels Unless a seat has been re-caned within 10 years and suffered a small, unfortunate accident, it is not worth repairing a seat. Panels are examined on an individual basis, for example on a Berger suite. If cane is old, dried out, becoming brittle, and has started to break, there is no point stressing the panel further by trying to repair it. An exception would be an old and valuable piece of furniture where part of the value is in its original cane work. Repairs to the cane are priced by the hour and as a rule this is not cost effective compared with the lifespan and cost of a new panel. I prefer not to stain new panels, as the cane ages naturally to a mellow colour within 3 – 5 years. Exact colour matches are not possible, and a seat stained to match a back (for example) will change colour differently as both age, as will a repair. To tone down the raw pale colour of new cane = £5/per panel (or, wait a couple of years!)
To match a panel to the rest of the chair = £15/per panel To blend in a repair = priced by the number of patches. N.B It will not be possible to get a perfect, invisible match. Patterns Prices quoted are for the standard 6-Way pattern, which is strong and durable. Other pattern variations are possible, but some are suitable only for non-weight-bearing panels. I will usually replace like-with-like, unless the existing patternis obviously wrong for the chair. Different patterns may cost more, or, less, than the standard, depending on their complexity. However, please remember that the cheap option is just that. If it’s not as strong, it won’t last long! Marguerite, Snowflake, Cobweb or Star of David Pattern ***This is a guide: I need to see the chair to price accurately*** I will quote from photos but this quote will be only a guide price. A new seat will last c.40 years with ‘normal’ (i.e. sitting only!) use. Prices quoted above are subject to change without notice if the price of the raw materials changes.
Please do not ask for rush seats to be repaired. It is not possible to do this except for one or two coils and still maintain the integrity of the seat. Rush is traditionally priced by area; However, this is modified by the size of the individual coils; smaller coils take more skill and more time to complete the same area.Minimum charge for hand coiled English Rush: £70. An average seat (dining or side chair) will be c. £90+ Prices are quoted based on the area of the seat and any additional work necessary. Large coils (3 – 4 coils per inch) = £0.35p/sq” Medium coils (5 – 6 coils per inch) = £0.40p/sq” Small coils (7 - 9 coils per inch) = £0.50p/sq” Raw materials I use English freshwater rush wherever possible as I love the colour variations and find it beautiful to work with. It is 6 – 9’ long with a range of greens and golds in its first year after harvest, aging through pale greens, yellows and duck egg blue into mellow golds after a couple of years.
To match one chair to a set where brown (probably Dutch) rush was previously used, or for very fine coils, I will use Dutch rush (salt or freshwater), which is 3 – 5’ long in browns and golds, aging to a richer brown. Its 'harder' and more expensive than the English rush.Cheaper options are Reel rush – machine twisted natural rush coils, or Paper rush – machine twisted paper coils, on a reel or bobbin. In general I don’t use these except to replace modern drop-in seats. While they are cheaper and quicker to use, you get what you pay for; as the coils underneath the seat do not hold in the stuffing/padding as securely and will not last as long. I usually replace like-with-like in terms of pattern and coil, unless the existing seat is obviously wrong for the chair. The common English pattern is the ‘envelope’ shape of 4 triangles meeting in the middle of the seat, often with a central ‘bridge’ running left to right. Continental patterns give a deeper seat and have many variations