Wicker, Rattan, Bamboo or Cane: What’s the Difference?
We have all seen the Wicker, Cane, Bamboo and Rattan furniture trend blowing up over the past year but what’s the difference between these materials? As much as I love the trend, I feel like their names are all used interchangeably to describe home items. I have been on the lookout for the perfect chair for my living room and have been between a classic mid century modern look or a wicker boho vibe. Every-time I search the internet and my local Facebook marketplace, I see results for cane, rattan and wicker and I wonder, aren’t these the same? If they aren’t then is one better than the other? So I decided to do some research to educate myself and you and provide some product recommendations.
Rattan and Cane
Rattan is a vine that comes from the rattan palm which resides in Southeast Asia. It grows like a tree but will bend back towards the ground and reroot like a vine will. Rattan is an extremely strong wood and it gets split into parts: the core and the skin. The skin or bark, is called cane and the inner core is referred to as rattan. Sort of confusing.
Rattan is often used in the main weaving of wicker furniture while cane is generally used to attach the items together and in the finishing details. This means that many many wicker items you see might be a combination of materials. If we look at the picture below, you can see that at every intersection, cane is wrapped around to hold them items together.
Bamboo
Bamboo is my favorite source of material. As we see the Amazon being cut down, turn to bamboo as some forms can grow up to three feet a day! This means it is considered a renewable resources which is always important to me when it comes to natural items. Although bamboo is considered a grass and is hollow inside, some types are harder than mahogany. Bamboo is generally used in flooring, furniture, plant stakes and fountains.
Wicker
Turns out wicker actually denotes the process of creation (aka weaving), not the actual material. The materials that are used can be natural or synthetic. Rattan, Cane and Bamboo are the most common natural materials while resin and vinyl are synthetic. Synthetics are what I recommend for outdoor items as they can handle weather while the others may rot and become compromised. Wicker is probably the safest word to use when describing your items if you are not 100% sure what the actual material is.
Weave it into Your House!
At the end of the day, all of these materials are environmentally friendly and considered renewable resources due to their extremely fast growth. They all may have subtle differences, but they are all equally stylish and can and should be mixed together. I recommend pairing them with plants (duh) and textured fabrics to create a warm, cozy, boho vibe.
