Now you've probably seen a lot of rattan garden furniture around at your local garden centre or outdoor store over the last few years, and you may well have heard about weatherproof furniture and how easy that can be.
However you might not be able to tell which type of rattan is actually weatherproof, as they can all look very similar, when the actual materials and composition of the furniture can vary drastically!
Here we will analyse what makes rattan all weather, and the common signs of a non-weatherproof set.
Materials
The quality of materials that the rattan set is made from is the biggest indicator of if it will be weatherproof, and this is broken down to the material of the rattan, and the frame of the furniture.
UV Stabilized Synthetic Rattan Strands
So this is the exterior of the furniture, the bit you touch and sit on, that comes in various colours and feels. You can get rough rattan, smooth rattan, thin tubes, wider threads, a whole range to choose from! However the underlying material is what you need to consider, as well as how it's been treated.
This means that it's been treated to be protected from the suns UV rays, which prevents it from fading, stops it rotting, and prevents it becoming brittle which could lead to easy breaking and ruining the look of the furniture.
Aluminium Frames
The frame of the furniture is the bedrock of your set, it holds you aloft and keeps you from sitting on a pile of rattan on the floor.
The key here is to look for aluminium.This doesn't rust, and so it can be left outside in the rain, snow, and icy conditions without it deteriorating. This allows you to leave it outside without a cover all year, and will save you a lot of time and money in the process. This often means a set can last up to 10 years or more in great condition.
Common Signs of Bad Rattan Furniture
I hate to say it, but the likes of B&Q, Homebase, Tesco, Argos and The Range often sell the "less than perfect" type of rattan, which often consists of lower quality materials so that they can reach a lower price that appeals to the mass market.
Some of the common signs of this cheaper variation are as follows.
Plastic Shell
The furniture may look like it's been hand woven from afar, but when you inspect it more closely you will see that it's in fact a hard plastic shell, that has grooves to create the look of a hand woven chair.
This is bad because it easily cracks, and this plastic often fades and degrades over time.Even if you save a hundred pounds upfront, you'll end up replacing your set more often, and so losing money in the long run.
Steel Frames - Heavy and Rusty!
The key thing to look for here it the weight of the chair.
It will weight significantly more than aluminium when you pick it up, and it's the best indicator of a steel frame you will get.
This is bad because steel rusts, which means if left outside it will degrade over time in the snow and ice, eventually becoming unusable.
What next?
As you might expect, all of the rattan that we sell in our garden centre is weatherproof, with UV stabilized hand woven threads and aluminium frames, to ensure the highest quality and the best longevity possible. We always believe in better quality for the long term.
You can shop our range of weatherproof rattan furniture here.
We also stock a range of reclining rattan furniture which is very comfortable, you can find out more about that here.
You can also here about other common questions we get about our rattan furniture on our FAQ article.
If you want to read more about the materials used in garden furniture, then click here.
To browse all of our weatherproof garden furniture, see our shopping page.
