Rattan, a material with extraordinary properties with limits. Rattan is a vine of the Palm race, which grows in very humid or even swampy equatorial forests.
With its siliceous skin like glass, this extremely solid and light vine is particularly resistant to humidity, as are tropical woods, teak or others.
But this resistance has its limits. Exposed to rain, rattan resists very well for a whole day or even a few days. But if this rain continues for too many hours, the humidity will gradually penetrate the Rattan, and day after day the material kept damp will end up slowly degrading and losing its resistance qualities.
The physical limits of rattan imply precautions for use. On the terraces of Parisian cafes, the chairs can last for decades while they are often in the rain all day for long periods. But they are piled up every night under cover and can thus dry out.
More generally, rattan can withstand rain for long hours without compromising its longevity, but must be able to dry regularly.
In practice, rattan furniture can stay outside throughout the “summer season”, the weather is hot and rather dry, continuous rains exceptionally last more than three or four days and Rattan withstands such rains without degrading.
But as soon as the season advances, the temperature drops, there is a lot of condensation and humidity, the rattan will gradually become humid, the long and heavy rains accentuating this degradation. In practice, these are sensitive situations by the sea.
It is then imperative to put the seats under shelter, a ventilated shelter to avoid progressive humidification as soon as the “bad season” arrives, in practice from mid-October to mid-March for a continental climate.
The alternative if you want to use your rattan furniture all year round, is to put it away daily, every evening, as parisian terraces do.
In summary, 2 main principles to respect:
During the winter season (October 15 to March 15 in Europe) in all climates: the furniture must be stored “dry”. It can however be left outside during the day, but must imperatively be put in the dry during the night.
During the “beautiful season”, the rest of the time, the rattan can remain permanently outside.
However, if a lasting rain arrives, the rattan should only be left in this rain for two or three days at the most, before drying the furniture in order to dry it out. It should only be taken out once the rain has stopped (in any case, a terrace cannot be used in the rain).
40 15/16 in
17 11/16 in
23 1/4 in