Semi-Bleached Cane Webbing, Light Open Weave Rattan, 18 or 24 in

This is classic open weave rattan cane, with the familiar small octagonal holes, that has been lightly bleached. Untreated cane has a warm honey color; this one is paler and more even, closer to a cream blond.

It is the cane to reach for when honey would look too warm:

• Light oak, ash and birch frames, where standard cane can look orange
• White painted chairs, cabinets and headboards
• Pale Scandinavian rooms where you want texture more than color

Bleaching evens the color out but does not remove the natural variation completely. Expect gentle changes in tone from strand to strand and along the roll; that slight unevenness is part of what makes it look like real cane. If a set of doors or chairs must match, cut every piece from one roll.

It handles exactly like untreated cane. Give it a 30 minute soak in warm water and fit it while damp, glossy side facing out; it shrinks and tightens as it dries. For a chair seat, drive it into the groove with wedges and lock it with glued reed spline. For a cabinet door, headboard or screen, staple and glue it across the back of the frame and cover the edge with trim.

If you want to protect it with a finish, try it on an offcut first. Clear water-based finishes keep the pale tone. Oil-based varnishes and oils tend to add a yellow cast, which works against the reason you chose bleached cane. Leaving it unfinished is also fine.

Both rolls are 4 ft (48 in) long, so the choice is the width. A seat needs at least 2 in extra each way, so the 18 in roll suits chair seats with a groove-to-groove opening up to 16 in on the short side, as well as small cabinet doors. The 24 in roll takes seats and doors up to 22 in across.

Along the 48 in length you can cut two seat pieces up to 24 in long, or three up to 16 in. For doors, allow 1 in or more beyond the opening on each side and sketch the pieces along the roll on paper before you cut.