Basket Reed
There are between 550 and 600 species of rattan, which can be found in rainforest areas from South China to Australia and Fiji to West Africa and Madagascar. Basket reed is produced from the core of this thorny palm (mostly genera Calamus, Daemonorops or Plectomia) which grows like a vine into the forest canopy.
Rattan for commercial use is harvested mostly in the jungles of South East Asia and Indonesia.
Native peoples travel into the rainforests, sometimes whole families for months at a time, to pull as many of the wild vines down from the forest canopy as they can. Much of the vine is left behind, tangled in the tree tops, the roots are left to grow again. The vines can be smaller in diameter near the roots and larger in diameter near the ends. Once rattan has developed, they do not increase in diameter as they age, they only increase in length.
Some species of vines can grow to a few hundred feet.
The rattan is cut into long pieces, approximately 20 feet or more, tied into manageable bundles and carried or dragged out of the forest.
The rattan poles are now debarked and boiled in a mixture of kerosene and diesel fuel to prevent blue staining and kill any bugs or borers. The residue from the boiling must now be cleaned off and the poles are left standing or laying in the sun to dry.
Bundles are made with mixed sizes, shipped to factories where they are graded by the type and size and of the rattan. The poles are now washed in water and very labor intensively cleaned using sand and a cloth. The joints, where the rings of thorns were removed, are scraped and the poles are closely sized. They are now ready to make chair cane and round core reeds.
These same steps are used to process thick rattan cores and species that are used for the flat and flat oval reeds. Less care is taken with the outside bark since it is not usable and the thorough washing step is eliminated.
The thick sizes of certain species of rattan suitable for flats and flat ovals are put through a machine that takes off the outer bark. Depending on the size of the core, the factories may polish the core in a sanding machine. Then flat ovals are cut from the outside, this is why sometimes the oval part is smooth and shiny. The rest of the core is sized and cut into flat reeds from 3/8" to 1" wide.
Simple machines such as the one shown are used to cut the larger sizes of flat reed.
Smaller machines are used for the sizes under 3/8".
The flat strands are inspected for defects, graded by color (select quality and premium reeds are naturally whitish/eggshell in color. Second color reeds may have naturally occurring streaks of grey, black, rust or even purplish color running through the lengths.) and the tips are clipped to get rid of dark ends.
The reed is weighed into one pound hanks, tied, coiled and hairs are clipped off the edges. All containers of reed go through a mandatory fumigation with methyl bromide (this is the same insecticide that is used on all produce that enters this country) before shipment to the US.
Methyl bromide is considered food safe and is regulated by the EPA.
Approximately 100 pounds of raw rattan may only yield 20 pounds of 1st quality flat reeds.
Processing Prewoven Cane
Prewoven Cane (or Press Cane, Cane Webbing, Loom Cane, Mat Cane, Sheet Cane) is woven on a loom in factories overseas. The strands of cane that run the entire length of the roll must be glued together so that they mesure more than 50 feet in length (a full roll of prewoven cane is 50ft.). These long strands are rolled onto bobbins and form the warp. Shorter cane strands are woven for the weft. No loom can weave a diagonal strand so the diagonals are woven into place one at a time after the horizontal and vertical grid is removed from the loom.
Due to the fact that the pieces of cane must be glued together in places, there may sometimes be weak or broken spots. To repair these weak spots: Cut pieces of cane from the edge of the mat. Soak both the mat and the short pieces of cane. Using a tweezers and/or flat tipped awl, lift the pieces of cane on the mat and slide the repair piece into place, overlapping as much as possible to add strength.
Seagrass
Seagrass or "salt-water-grass" grows on the riverbanks in estuary areas. The grass that we use in our baskets is not a true seagrass that grows on the ocean floor, but a grass that grows on land.
The leaves of the grass can grow to be approximately 10 feet. They are at least somewhat tended by the farmers that harvest the materials.
Twisted seagrass starts with the strands which are 3 to 4 foot in length, the bottom of the grass "needle" is used for the larger sizes and the tips are used for the thinner, more delicate sizes. They are twisted and braided by hand using simple tools. Sizes vary due to each individual's skill and thickness of the grasses.
Many years ago in Asian countries, the salt-water-grass blades (which is a full needle leaf sliced in half) were used to bundle and tie up groceries (which were sometimes wrapped in old newspapers) for customers who carried all their daily groceries purchased in the open market. Meat, poultry and beef were tied with the blades, even live struggling chickens were tied with thick blades around the wings. If a housewife would buy 10 things, she would carry each item tied with a blade of grass, dangling at her side. Most of the time, items were not even wrapped. Imagine a live/dead fish dangling at the end of a seagrass blade hanging from your waist.