Since we have been adding conservatories to our homes Rattan Conservatory Sets have become a popular choice to fill them, but how has Rattan Furniture become so popular?

Fashion is always changing and the same can be said for our Rattan Conservatory Sets. Wicker furniture dates back well before the Victorian era and has now made a huge come back on a bigger and better scale, and is more widely used than ever before. With cleanliness playing a big part in our every day life, what better furniture too use in our conservatory?

If you thought that your Rattan Conservatory Sets are quite a recent invention then, like me, you are wrong. The history of wicker furniture starts with the Egyptians – the idea of using reed and swamp grasses comes from the ancient Egyptian’s where they seem to have been the first to have used it to make furniture and baskets.

The popularity of the Rattan Conservatory Sets that you are thinking of buying or already have bought has been around since the Victorian era.

Like us these days, we are obsessed with clean living and it seems the Victorians had the same idea. Rattan Furniture is more hygienic than upholstered furniture as it collects less dust and with today’s allergens that can only be a good thing. To begin with the Victorian’s used the furniture for outside entertaining but they decided to start bringing it in as the different styles made it more than just outside furniture.

The term ‘Wicker’ is a process of weaving and not the material that your furniture is made from. The Egyptian’s found reeds that were growing by the river Nile and as these were very strong they started to be used to make furniture which became very popular throughout their kingdom.

It wasn’t long before items made by the Egyptians became popular with the Roman’s who then started to make there own style of furniture. By the 16th and 17th centuries wicker furniture was popular in Europe and when it eventually arrived in Southeast Asia and they discovered Rattan, which is more versatile reed.

The name Rattan comes from many varieties of climbing palms that come from the tropical areas of Africa and Asia and is probably one of the hardest of hard woods around. The palms can grow hundreds of metres long and the process of using the palms begins. The skin from the palm is stripped so this can be used as the weaving material and the bits that are left can be used in other furniture making. The frame was made from thicker stalks which where heated up and bent into the required shape and when it dried it holds its shape.

In the early 1900’s Rattan Furniture became less popular but by the 60’s and 70’s popularity began to grow again. The use of a synthetic material allowed more everyday furniture to be made again and this in turn raised the popularity of the furniture. Today’s Rattan Conservatory Sets are made from a Synthetic Rattan that is woven round steel or aluminium tubular frames. This helps reduce the weight and the cost of the furniture and also allows the design of a wide variety of styles which people want in their house or garden.

The Rattan is made from a synthetic material made from a mixture of plastic materials of organic origin and some materials that come from minerals. The mixture can be moulded at high temperatures which make it weatherproof and versatile. Colours are also added at this point for a natural look and a textured print makes it feel natural.

With today’s Rattan Conservatory Sets they are sleek, modern and versatile, so it has no restrictions so eating indoors or outdoors just depends on the weather.