Caned Chairs: Hand-Woven vs. Mat Cane Explained

Understanding Cane Chairs: Styles, Materials & Restoration Tips

If you’re a fan of antique or vintage furniture, chances are you’ve come across a cane chair in need of repair and restoration.

Cane chairs are some of the most common types of woven furniture we see at our shop, and they remain a staple in both antique, mid-century modern, and modern design.

Mumford Restoration’s Raleigh-based furniture restoration workshop is one of North Carolina’s top destinations for professional cane chair repair & antique furniture restoration. 

We’ve restored countless hand-woven and sheet cane chairs: from family heirlooms passed down through generations to rare vintage and mid-century modern collector pieces.

We’ve put together a guide to  break down everything you need to know about cane chair repair, including:

• The difference between hand-woven and sheet cane
• How to identify the type of caning your chair needs
• Why professional restoration will give you an expertly woven chair seat AND save you some frustration!

Don't give up on your cane chair!

Discover how a professional cane chair repair service can preserve its beauty and structure for years to come.

And If you haven’t read the first part of Mumford Restoration’s seat weaving series, you can find it here. 

It gives you an overview of what woven seats are and details some common types of seat weaving techniques and materials. 

Hand-Woven Cane vs. Sheet Cane: How to Identify Your Chair Type

So, you just brought home an antique cane dining chair set that needs some new seats. 

How do you decide whether your chair requires hand-woven cane repair or sheet cane seat replacement? 

For hand-woven seats, the chair frame will have a series of holes drilled all around the seat frame. 

For mat/sheet-cane seats, the chair frame will have a thin, deeply recessed line around the perimeter of the seat. 

This is where the binder cane will secure the mat/sheet cane.

The Difference Between Mat Cane and Hand-Woven Cane Seats

The pattern of mat cane can look just like hand-woven cane. 

However, mat cane is pre-woven in a factory and shipped out in rolls. 

There are a variety of patterns available for mat cane, since the pattern isn't limited by the pattern of holes around the chair frame.

You go with the traditional 7-step pattern, or you can play with denser or more modern woven patterns.

If you'd like to try a different pattern for your mat-caned chair, just ask!

Photo Above: A roll of mat cane before it is cut and placed into chairs.

What is Cane Made Of?

A Look at Rattan and Its Use in Woven Seat Furniture

Cane is a popular material in chair caning and antique furniture restoration due to its flexibility, strength, and extremely light weight.

Cane comes from the rattan vine, which grows in southeast Asia. 

It is available in different widths, so the caner will choose that size that is in perfect proportion to your caned seat.. 

Seat weavers choose the width based on the size of the holes around the chair seat and the average distance between holes.

Typically the holes are sized and spaced to ensure that:

• larger chair seats have appropriately wider widths of cane strands
• petite chairs seats have narrower, delicate-looking widths of cane strands.

This sizing methodology is for both strength and appearance.

Photo Above: Caners have to keep a wide variety of cane widths on hand.

How to Cane a Chair: Traditional Techniques & Patterns

There are many ways to weave cane and it can produce lovely, intricate patterns.

The most common pattern relies on the 7-step method. 

The 7-step method consists of:

• 2 sets of horizontal lines 
• 2 sets of vertical lines 
• 2 sets of diagonal lines
• 1 line of binder cane woven around the entire perimeter of the woven seat. This final line secures all of the cane in place. 

This traditional 7-step method is the foundation of hand-woven cane seat restoration.

It is also a meticulous and sometimes exasperating process.

If you're not up for the headache, it's best to leave chair caning to the professionals!

Is Chair Caning Difficult?

What Caned Chair Owners Should Know

Caning a chair isn’t a feat of strength, but of patience and an eye for patterns.

Mastering the seat weaving technique requires lots of time (and many, many practice chairs).

It takes a while to learn the basics of how to cane a chair, but it takes years to learn how to improvise and make judgement calls that ensure that the caning is both beautiful and strong. 

Most holes on a caned seat seem to have a regular pattern at first glance, but differences in millimeters can disrupt the pattern. 

The caner constantly makes decisions to compensate for holes that were drilled slightly irregularly. 

This judgement is the difference between an amateur caner and an experienced professional. 

Additionally, even highly efficient, experienced caners spend hours on each chair seat. 

So keep in mind that a DIY recaning project may consume your entire weekend and still give you lackluster results. 

What is Blind Caning?

Understanding Seat Weaving Techniques for Antique Chairs

Blind caning restoration is an advanced method of antique chair repair that few modern craftspeople are trained to perform. 

Our Raleigh-based restoration specialists are among the few who offer this historic and highly specialized service.

Blind caning is used when the holes don’t go all the way through the chair. 

It’s especially popular for the seat backs of high-quality, antique chairs. The owners didn’t want the woven cane ends to be visible to anyone behind the chair!

Double blind caning is for chairs with caning on both sides of an area of wood, particularly for the back and sides of chairs, couches, and settees.

Blind caning follows the 7-step method until the last step. 

Since the seat waver can’t access the underside of the caned seat, they have to find a different way to secure all of the strands of cane.

Instead of weaving binder cane around the perimeter, the seat weaver puts a small round reed into each hole in the chair. 

This secures all of the strands of cane in place. 

Photo Above: An example of blind caning. Note the absence of binder cane. Small portions of reed secure the strands of cane in place.

Mat Caning a Chair: Step-by-Step Restoration Process

The seat weaver thoroughly cleans out all of the old glue and old cane that remain in the recessed line.

This is a tedious process, as all traces of glue must be cleanly removed.

If the seat weaver does not remove as much of this old material as possible, the new cane will not stay put.

Next:

1. The seat weaver places a thick layer of glue in the recessed line. 
2. They position the cane so that its strands are aligned properly.
   
3. They use a tool to press the cane into the recessed line. 
4. Finally, they place binder cane over the mat cane and press it into the recessed line. This will secure the cane remains in place permanently.

Our team uses industry-best techniques for sheet cane seat installation that will ensure long-lasting results. 

If your piece requires professional mat caning, Mumford Restoration can help.

Photo Above: Two mat-caned chair seats with the original mat cane removed.

Can You Color Match New Cane to Old? The Experts Explain

We can, but we generally advise against it.

It is better to leave your cane natural and free of any sprays or coatings.

Color-matching cane involves sanding some of the top layer off of the cane, staining it, and then using toner lacquer to adjust the color. 

Sanding removes some of the protective layer, which makes the cane less resistant to abrasion. 

Adding toner reduces the cane’s flexibility.

Cane has natural flexibility, which allows it to accommodate a person’s weight without breaking. 

Lacquer is less flexible than the cane which means that two things are likely to happen eventually.

1. The toner lacquer may eventually flake off
2. Strands of cane may break sooner than they would if left natural

Photo above, right: Brand new mat cane as compared to the original, aged mat cane that was in a chair seat. Cane does change color over time and can mellow into a lovely, mellow color as the years go by.

Photos above, center: Mumford's artisans can match your new cane to the old, but this may reduce the lifespan of your new seat.

If Your Cane Chair Is Damaged, It’s Time to Call a Professional

Does your chair have broken strands or sagging cane?

Then it's  time to consider Mumford Restoration’s  expert recaning services.

When strands of cane break, that means that the structure of cane is compromised.  

When you see broken strands, that usually means that the cane is at the end of its life.

The chair needs to be recaned at that point.

Otherwise, you risk the caned seat finally breaking and dramatically dumping you or a guest through the chair!

Photo above: A portion of mat cane that the caner has cut from the roll.

Cleaning Cane Furniture: Do’s and Don’ts for Longevity

Aside from light dusting, you don’t really need to clean your caned seat.

As with any piece of furniture, caned chairs like boring, predictable lives. 

To extend the life of your cane furniture, give it a boring life.

Mumford’s Raleigh furniture restoration team recommends avoiding:

• direct sunlight
• air vents
• areas where it is likely to get splashed with water
• rooms where the temperature varies dramatically

Most importantly: NEVER EVER STAND ON YOUR CANED CHAIR. 

It is meant to support the modest weight of a human from the hips up, which is distributed across your derriere. 

Placing your full weight on the much smaller surface area of your feet will stress and ultimately break your caned seat. 

You will fall through/off of your chair.

And, to add insult to injury, your now broken chair seat will need to be recaned.

Photo Above: Caned chairs are strong, but they do have limits. Cane may break over time, as a natural result of wear and age. It can also break ahead of schedule if you put too much weight and pressure on it. 

What Goes Into Caned Chair Costs

The cost to repair a cane chair depends on several factors.

Hand-woven cane

The costs of hand-weaving a caned chair depends on the number of holes in the seat frame, and the distance between holes. 

More holes and less distance between holes will mean that the weaving pattern will be tighter therefore and more time consuming for the seat weaver.

Mat Cane

Replacing a mat cane seat depends on the size of the seat and is generally calculated per square inch.

Mumford Restoration will evaluate your chair and offer transparent pricing and expert chair recaning services that are tailored to each unique piece.

DIY Cane Chair Repair Gone Wrong?

Why It Pays to Hire a Pro

Many woven seat owners try to reweave their cane seats themselves, and we applaud their effort to learn this historic seat weaving technique! 

Unfortunately, there is a bit of a learning curve in terms of creating a beautiful, even pattern and ensuring that the cane isn’t woven too tightly or loosely. 

We’ve restored many chairs after DIY cane chair repairs failed. This often costs more time and money than it would have taken to hire a professional caning service in the first place.

Our clients tell us these DIY projects seemed as if they’d be fun when they started, but the caning process quickly became tedious and frustrating! 

Save time and money (and your sanity) by bringing your woven chair to a professional the first time!

Photo Above: Mumford's expert chair caner finishes a mat-caned chair with a length of binder.

Mumford Restoration:

Raleigh’s Trusted Cane Chair Repair Specialists

Looking for professional cane chair repair in Raleigh, NC? 

Trust the experts at Mumford Restoration!

From hand-woven cane seat restoration to vintage furniture repair, our skilled artisans will restore and preserve your chair’s beauty and structural integrity.

Whether it’s a family heirloom or a rare vintage find, we have the skills and artistry to bring your woven seat back to life. 

Call our restoration specialists at 919-510-6310 and they will be happy to help you get your cane furniture back to its old self! 

Or you can submit photos using our online form and our restoration specialists will reach out to you shortly!