Wicker antique furniture is a perfect addition to a rustic home décor made of woven reed, willow or cane and it includes tables, chairs, couches and lamps. Most antique wicker furniture is totally woven together and should not be confused with “cane” furniture and are thus more expensive. However, like everything else in your home, wicker antique furniture needs regular maintenance and although repairing it is not exactly straightforward, it can still be done through patient work by the average ‘do it yourself’ person.

Assessing the Damage
Wicker antique furniture should be regularly dusted and cleaned and the least exposure to direct sunlight it gets the better. Remember that it is truly important to immediately repair any apparent damages as soon as they manifest themselves because once damaged the weaving deteriorates quickly. It is truly important to investigate any damages before embarking on the task. Extreme damage should be tackled by professional restorers because weaving and attaching reeds can become somewhat daunting at times. However, if you are faced by a simple few loose strands, you can easily tighten them up yourself.

Repairing Cracks
When wicker is constantly exposed to the elements, especially to a combination of sun and wind (this would be the case if your wicker furniture decorates the patio), the wicker might get excessively dry and cracks may appear. In such a case you would want to optimize the wicker’s flexibility by applying linseed oil which will restore the wicker’s moisture levels. When applying linseed oil make sure it gets into the cracks and in the weave, completely covering the furniture article and making sure that it gets fully absorbed. Any unabsorbed linseed oil should be wiped off because it might cause more damage than repair.

Repairing Weaves
Weaves are easy to repair, however, you will always need a guideline to recreate the original weave of your wicker furniture. Therefore it is very important to take various good photographs of the piece of furniture you are working on making sure that you have various clear snapshots of the weave work itself. Moreover, it is important not to overdo it when you are repairing any weaving. That is, work with small areas at a time; do not try to do the complete repair at once especially if it is a large area. When you are adding new wicker or cane reeds to your furniture make sure that you soak it for about 15 minutes so that it softens up a bit and allows greater flexibility and letting you have an easier work flow.

Applying Finishes
Before attempting to apply any paint or finishing layer to your repaired wicker item you should always prime it with at least 2 coats of oil-based wood primer using a compressor sprayer or a natural bristled brush. When the primer has dried you should use either a brush or a compressor sprayer to apply oil based semi-gloss paint because it is quite flexible, is durable and sticks very easily to the primer. In fact, latex paint isn’t recommended since it flakes easily. Remember not to use any polyurethane finish on your wicker furniture because it cracks easily when stressed through twisting and bending. Keep in mind that wicker furniture constantly stretches with each use, so any finish that is not flexible will eventually create problems.