Weaving faux rattan wicker is a production process that is done completely by hand. Even today, when you go into a factory, you can see the workers weaving a piece of furniture completely by hand.

Vietnam is a major manufacturer and weaver of faux rattan furniture and other faux rattan items; Vietnam has readily available faux rattan materials and a highly skilled workforce that can weave complex faux rattan wicker furniture and other faux rattan items.

Weaving wicker products has a long and varied history. Yet, many people are confused between the definition of rattan and wicker. Wicker is a type of weave, and rattan is a material used to weave furniture or baskets.

A quick history of furniture and basket wicker weaving

Woven furniture may, to many, seem like an invention of the Victorian era; the truth is that weaving and making furniture and baskets, and lots of other household items started thousands of years ago.

Weaving and, in particular, basket weaving is one of the most widely distributed human skills worldwide. Almost everywhere you go, there is a history of some weaving.

It is tough to know how old the weaving skill is as baskets have been found dating back 10,000 or 12,000 years. It can be fair to say that from the time the earth came to being, men and women have been taking some of the natural materials they have found and weaving them together to form objects, baskets, and furniture pieces.

King Tutankhamen (ca 1341-1323) was buried with a wicker chair seat and a headboard. The Romans got inspired by the woven wicker furniture, so they started their own weaving techniques. And this continued to spread throughout Europe. In Holland, many old baby beds used wicker.

All of Asia has had some weaving tradition. Vietnam has many baskets and furniture weaving villages where the village inhabitants have been weaving furniture, baskets, and other objects for thousands of years. These kinds of skills are usually passed down from father to son so that each generation will build upon the previous generation’s skill sets.

Tour With Us As We Visit A Faux Rattan Weaving Factory in Vietnam

(Click On the Video Link Below)

Clearing Up the wicker definition confusion

I know that many times I have been confused when people use the word “wicker.” Does that mean a kind of material? Can a faux rattan basket, chair or lamp also be considered wicker?

The Oxford dictionary defines wicker as:

The dictionary explains that the word wicker is of a Scandinavian origin with the Swedish word “viker” or willow, which is related to the Swedish word “Vika,” which means to bend. So wicker is the process of bending materials so that they then be woven into an object.

According to this definition, wicker is not a material but a type of weave. It is weaving or bending materials together to form objects such as a basket or chair.

This can get confusing for many people as they may see wicker as a kind of material. I know for years I was also confused by this, and I thought wicker was a kind of material and not a weave. But according to the definition, wicker is a kind of weave. Therefore you can have a wicker faux rattan chair, which would simply be a chair that has used faux rattan material with a wicker weave.

On the other hand, rattan is a material and not a weave. That is why sometimes you can hear things be called a wicker rattan weave. This would be a woven object such as a chair or basket that was woven using rattan material.

Many people get this confused, and they may use the words wicker and rattan interchangeably, but the truth is that they are not the same thing. Wicker is a kind of weave, and rattan is a material used to weave wicker.

Faux Rattan, what you need to know

It is common to call faux rattan also resin wicker or all-weather wicker rattan. Essentially faux rattan is manufactured to withstand all kinds of weather, including cold winter weather.

Today the faux rattan materials continue to get more sophisticated and have started to look more and more like real rattan. In fact, for some materials, you have to look very closely to know if the rattan is faux or real.

With the improvement of the faux rattan, quality is also improved, with the materials being able to withstand the sun’s UV rays and water resistance. It continues to be treated and tested to withstand a lot of extreme heat and cold.

Vietnam’s faux rattan wicker weaving industry

Over the last 15 to 20 years, Vietnam has become a major exporter and weaver of faux rattan wicker furniture. There are many reasons for this, including:

• Available materials – Today, in Vietnam, it is much easier to get faux rattan materials than many of the larger natural rattan materials that are required for large scale furniture production. This means many factories prefer or can only do faux rattan due to the materials.
• Color and size matching – With the availability of materials, many suppliers are now also happy to custom make colors or even match your finish and size. We have special ordered some faux rattan in the size and color we wanted without any problem.
• Workers – The workers are now used to weaving with faux rattan materials. Even though the faux rattan is usually heavier than weaving with the natural rattan material, the workers are now used to weaving with faux rattan to weave very quickly.

You can watch this video to see how fast this factory worker is when he is weaving faux rattan on to this sofa set.

When you watch that video, you can really see how highly skilled these faux rattan weavers are and how fast they can work. When we watched this worker weaving this sofa, we were in awe of him and how fast he was able to work.

Vietnam is your correct manufacturing choice when looking at indoor or outdoor furniture in faux rattan, rope, or other woven materials. They have the raw materials and highly skilled workers. This means that they have a competitive advantage over other locations and places.

If you were interested in developing some faux rattan home furniture or home decor products we would love to talk with you. Please feel free to contact Anita by clicking here or contact me by email by clicking here. At Mondoro we love to you create, develop and manufacture amazing home decor products.

Related Questions

What is the difference between rattan and rattan effect?

Rattan is a natural material, and the rattan effect is also known as Faux Rattan, Resin Rattan, and All-Weather Rattan. Rattan is for items that will be indoors, whereas the rattan effect or faux rattan is all-weather and can be used outdoors or indoors.

What kind of care does faux rattan furniture need?

Most faux rattan furniture can be left outside, even in the winter months. But if you are going to leave them outside and exposed to very harsh winter elements, you should cover them with a PVC waterproof cloth.

Of course, to ensure your furniture will stay in top condition, it would be best to bring them inside to a garage or storage unit, especially if you live in a climate that has a lot of snow and very extreme winter weather.