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Yet, popular as it is, rattan garden furniture is by no means the only type of outdoor furniture available on the market. On the contrary, there are a number of different materials for outdoor furniture, both natural and synthetic, which may be good alternatives to rattan for home-owners less fond of this material. This article goes over a few of the most common.
Natural Materials
Natural fibres have traditionally been some of the most popular and widespread among the different materials for outdoor furniture, and that is a trend which continues to this day. As popular as synthetic fibres have become in recent years, there is still a certain charm to natural materials which causes many home-owners to choose them over their man-made counterparts even despite the significantly higher degree of care and maintenance they require.
Most of the clout natural materials hold as bases for both indoor and outdoor furniture stem from their long production history. Some of the fibres used to produce outdoor furniture in the 21st century are exactly the same used by the Ancient Egyptians when they first began using the technique of weaving, several centuries before Christ. This traditional aspect is appealing to most home-owners, and goes a long way towards explaining the significant popularity these materials continue to enjoy to this day.
Among the many different materials for outdoor furniture which can be farmed from a natural source are straw, bamboo, cane, and of course rattan, as well as certain types of reeds. These are all materials which have been used extensively throughout the centuries to make not only furniture, but also wicker baskets and other accessories, a trend which also continues to this day.
Synthetic Materials
Aside from the natural fibres detailed in the lines above, there exist a number of different materials for outdoor furniture which are entirely man-made.
Of these, resin-based synthetic rattan is of course the most popular, as well as the most widespread across public consciousness; however, unlike what many home-owners might think, not every rattan garden furniture item is made of the same type of synthetic polymer. Much to the contrary, rattan items on the market can be made out of any one of four types of resin: polyethylene, polypropylene, PVC or nylon.
Each of these materials possesses its own set of strengths and weaknesses, so home-owners are advised to check which one would best suit their needs before purchase, if at all possible. However, despite their differences, all of these materials also share a few common traits, such as weather resistance, sturdiness and low maintenance requirements, which make them firm favourites among British home-owners. This is a large part of the reason why rattan garden furniture continues to be the best-selling type of outdoor furniture across the western world, even despite the existence of the numerous other options listed in this article.
Even still, it is clear that there are a number of different materials for outdoor furniture at home-owners disposal, beyond synthetic rattan; and while none of them looks set to topple the hegemony rattan garden furniture has over the outdoor market, they nonetheless constitute valid alternatives for home-owners looking for something different.
