Fixing and Recycling Rattan Furniture

Tips and how to repair and reuse rattan furniture that is worn and antique in order to remain attractive as elements of room decoration.

It is undeniable that rattan furniture offers a natural beauty that can last for several decades, with proper care of course. Rattan is a plant belonging to the species of palm but live like a vines. This plant is easily found in forests in Kalimantan or Papua and makes Indonesia as one of the rattan exporter country to the world.

Prepare rattan before it becomes furniture

To utilize rattan before being made into furniture, first the fibers are separated and dried into a material that is flexible, strong, and easily woven to be used as furniture materials. In the process of drying, rattan should not be too dry to cause this material is fragile and easy to crack. And if it is still wet, rattan will also be easily tenuous and woven becomes uneven. Wet rattan can also invite mushrooms to grow. Therefore, a proper drying process is needed to achieve the right dry conditions.

Fix and Reclaim old rattan furniture

If you take a walk in the antique shop and find a slightly worn rattan furniture, do not hesitate to take it home for reuse. By knowing some problems on rattan furniture and how to overcome them, antique rattan furniture will be re-used.

How to clean rattan and wicker furniture

Handling cracks in woven rattan furniture is a consequence that must be borne by the owner. Check out this article to find out how easy it is.

Naturally, if your rattan wicker table or chair is difficult to clean because its structure is full of narrow crevices where dust and dirt hide. This should be an excuse to clean it often, instead of abandoning it.

Before starting a clean-up activity, make sure you know the type of furniture to be cleaned, whether it is genuine or synthetic rattan. Each type requires a different method of washing. Synthetic furniture is usually more durable when compared with natural ones, especially if placed outside the home such as the original rattan patio tables and chairs. Natural ingredients require a protective coating to make it more durable.

Follow the following steps by type of wicker furniture materials.

1. Get rid of dust with a vacuum cleaner

(Suitable for all types of woven material)

This step should be done before washing the wicker furniture or it could be a weekly routine even if you do not want to wash it.

Use the long-haired tip on the vacuum cleaner to reach the dust and dirt in the webbing crevices.

Avoid pressing the webbing surface too hard so as not to remove the webbing or scratching the webbing material.

2. Take advantage of used toothbrushes

(Suitable for all types of woven material)

To handle certain parts that are not reachable by the machine, use a used toothbrush with feathers that are still upright.

You can wet the toothbrush hairs in order to catch better dust.

If the toothbrush feathers are not stiff enough to get rid of certain dirt tucked into the webbing crevices, use the tip of the stick, wire, or other pointed object. Do it carefully without loosening the webbing.

Tegalwangi village Weru Subdistrict Cirebon: Largest Rattan Crafts Business Centers in Indonesia

A house is not complete without having the means of household furniture such as desks, chairs, cupboards, beds and others. Appliances household furniture are generally made of plastic, wood or iron. But for homeowners who have the soul of art, tools, household items made of rattan could be one option.

Rattan or in English is Rattan is a type of root crops that grow wild in the tropical rain forest. Indonesia can be said to be the world rattan for nearly 30% of rattan in the world can be produced by Indonesia. Producers of raw rattan terbesardi Indonesia is the island of Sulawesi and Borneo.

But to get the tools products household items made of rattan,

Know the Types of Indonesian Rattan

The types of rattan in Indonesia turned out to be a lot. Total types of cane that grows in Indonesia reached about 312 species. Indonesian rattan species richness can be seen also from the variety of genus (genus) of Indonesia. From a total of 13 genera of plant cane around the world, 8 genus of which grow in Indonesia.

Rattan is a plant of the family Arecaceae (palm). Rattan generally creeping, slender stem with a diameter between 0.3 to 10 cm, segmented but not hollow, and prickly. These spines serve as a defense and climbing apparatus. And cane itself was not the only one type, but in the hundreds of species in 13 genera.Here is a list of types of cane that grows in Indonesia. Of the 312 species have been exploited stems partly good to be traded for the craft industry, and only used locally. Here are some types of rattan in Indonesia which is equipped with a common name, Latin name of the plant, the mention of the names in the local and regional distribution in Indonesia.

1. Balubuk Rattan (Calamus burckianus Beccari); Known as Howe balubuk (sunda), rattan sepet, penjalin bakul (Java). Available in Java Island. 
   
2. Rattan Taman

Rattan and Function

Rattan is a palm group of families (Tribus) Calameae which has a climbing habitus, especially Calamus, Daemonorops, and Oncocalamus. Calameae tribe consists of about six hundred members, with regional distribution in tropical parts of Africa, Asia and Australasia. Into this tribe including the genus Salacca (eg bark), Metroxylon (eg thatch / sago), and Pigafetta who does not climb, and traditionally not classed as plant cane.

Rattan sticks are usually slender with a diameter of 2-5 cm, jointed long, hollow, and many are protected by thorns long, hard and sharp. These spines serve as a means of self defense from herbivores, while helping climbing, because the rattan is not equipped with tendrils. A cane stalks can reach hundreds of meters long. Rattan sticks if cut down and remove the water can be used as a way to survive in the wild. Javan rhino is also known to make rattan as one of the menu.

Most of rattan from forests in Indonesia, such as Sumatra, Java, Borneo, Sulawesi and Nusa Tenggara. Indonesia supplies 70% of the world's rattan. The rest of the market is filled from Malaysia, the Philippines, Sri Lanka, and Bangladesh.

Rattan fast growing and relatively easy to harvest and ditransprotasi. It is thought to help preserve the forest, because people prefer to harvest rattan rather than wood.

Functions

Rattan commonly used