1.) Keep cane chairs and furniture away from extreme heat
situations and areas with low humidity.
These conditions could cause the cane to dry out and become brittle and
break. Also direct sunlight and heater ducts are areas to be avoided. Consider
using a humidifier in the winter which can be especially helpful to keep the
air moist and not too dry.
Using a high-oil content furniture polish product when you dust helps to
keep the cane supple, too. Lemon oil, orange oil, or mineral oil (use
sparingly) applied to both the top and bottom of the cane seat a few times a
year is usually sufficient.
2.) Distribute the weight evenly on the seat.
A cane seat is intended to take evenly distributed weight of the person
sitting on the seat, not concentrated weight, like a knee or foot. So NEVER
kneel on a cane seat or use it as a ladder or step stool. Doing so will cause
the cane strands to break and the seat will need to be rewoven prematurely.
3.) Is your seat sagging?
Cane has natural elastic properties, but eventually the caned seat will
begin to sag with heavy or prolonged use. It is important to tighten the
cane or it will begin to wear and break along the inside edge of the seat
frame, both on the sides and front and back edges.
Cane seats that are not too badly stretched or that are free of broken
strands, can be revived by turning the chair upside-down and applying a warm,
wet cloth to the underside of the cane seat. Let the cloth and cane dry
naturally overnight. Remove the cloth and turn chair upright and don’t let
anyone sit on it for at least 48 hours. This treatment will dry and shrink the
cane, tightening it up in the process, taking the pressure off the inside
wooden edges.
An alternative solution would be to use a spray water bottle and spritz
the seat thoroughly with warm water. Then let the seat dry overnight and as it
dries the cane will shrink and pull tightly once again. Don’t allow anyone to
sit on chair seat for at least 48 hours until it’s completely dry.
This tightening process is most effective when used regularly within the
first five years of recaning and won’t work at all if there are several broken
strands. Using this preventative method three or four times a year should be
sufficient to help prolong the life of your cane seat chair for many years.
4.) To prolong the life of your caned seat, the use of a chair pad
or cushion is encouraged.
This especially pertains to large chairs with a seat diameter of greater
than 14 inches. A chair pad will distribute the weight evenly and take the
pressure off the individual strands of cane, thus making them last longer.
5.) Keep seats clean.
Clean grimy or dirty cane seats with a wood soap such as Murphy’s or
mild detergent in warm water, using a soft cloth or perhaps a soft bristle
brush.
Take care not to damage the wood surface with the water. Rinse well and
then let the seat dry naturally on a warm, windy day to eliminate the possibility
of mold and mildew setting in which will damage and stain the cane. Do not sit
on the seat for at least 48 hours, otherwise the cane will stretch out of
shape.
6.) Mold and mildew on your cane seat?
If you notice mold or mildew growing on your cane furniture, use a
strong solution of bleach in warm soapy water to clean. Then rinse well
and dry outdoors in the sunshine on a warm, windy day. Be careful not to spill
the bleach solution on any surrounding wooden frame parts and wipe off any
wooden surfaces immediately.
7.) Cane furniture storage and usage tips.
Do not store or use cane or wicker furniture in high humidity areas or
in wet areas where mold and mildew can present a problem. Basements, crawl
spaces, up next to a wall, or on the porch pushed up next to the wall of the
house where the furniture does not get adequate air circulation are places to
avoid.
8.) Caning a chair seat yourself? Then be sure to bevel the inside
edge of the seat and sand it well before beginning to weave.
This applies to weaving both the traditional hole-to-hole strand cane
method or the sheet cane, spline cane, or cane webbing method with the large
hole in the middle of the wood frame. The inside wooden edge of the seat is
usually a sharp 90 degree angle and may eventually cut the cane, if this step
is forgotten. Use a small rasp, file or plane to pare down the edge and then
smooth with sand paper.
9.) No need for final finish treatments of varnish, stain or
lacquer on newly rewoven cane seats.
Because chair cane has a naturally glossy finish, traditionally cane
seats are left unfinished to allow the cane to absorb moisture in the air and
remain flexible, expanding and contracting. Although cane will darken with age
on its own to a nice honey-brown golden color, it will take several years to achieve
this.
If you feel you must apply some sort of finish, high oil content
furniture polish products can be used successfully; lemon oil, orange oil and
mineral oil. Occasionally, tung oil varnish or even wax furniture polish are
used as a finish on the cane without harmful affects.
10.) Want your newly caned seat to match others in a set?
If you prefer to hasten the darkening process of a newly recaned seat,
or need to match a new chair seat to an existing set, use oil-based stain
(Minwax brand is good) and then a coat of lacquer or varnish can be applied
over that. Do not apply varnish to the underside of the cane seat, though.
Realize too, that the finish may not match exactly, may be blotchy in
appearance, and will tend to dry out the cane, which may cause the seat to fail
prematurely. The preferred method is to leave a cane seat in its natural
state, without adding any final finish products.
11.) With reasonable care, attention and use, your cane-seated
chair should last from 5-25 years.
But if you notice a few broken strands or a hole becoming bigger, place
a padded cushion over the seat to gain many more months or even years of use. I
recommend to all my customers that they keep using the chair until the entire
seat (or large portion of it) fails, before they have it rewoven. Enjoy!
Visit our website for more details:http://www.canecraftassam.com/
No comments:
Post a Comment