Resin Wicker Wiki

 

Resin wicker, also known as all-weather wicker, is manufactured predominantly for use in outdoor patio furniture. It is meant to look like natural wicker, but is actually synthetic material.

From Wikipedia:
"Wicker is not actually a material, but a method of weaving. The word is said to be derived from the Scandinavian word "wika" which means "To bend." Traditionally, natural plant materials were used to manufacture a variety of different products including baskets, trays, indoor and outdoor furniture. Wicker was originally made from natural fibers, such as rattan, a material derived from the so-called rotan tree, a vine like plant.[1] The term rattan is sometimes used interchangeably with wicker, but in fact depicts the fiber used to create the wicker work. Rattan is somewhat elastic and often used to produce baskets, hampers and chairs. The branch-like material is woven together for the purpose of constructing various wicker items. Resin wicker is a similar looking material." 

Many resin wicker products on the market are manufactured with lower cost polyethylene or PVC. While this product has a similar looks to our product, it will not hold up in the long term, will not recover from being repeatedly or consistently stretched, and will not last as long under UV light like the sun.

Marco Polo uses High-density Polypropylene (HDPP) in all of its products. It is known for its durability and has been tested extensively in many industries as the standard in low temperature and/or harsh conditions. The product is designed to be left outside for years with no fading or stretching. As an example of how durable the product is: "HDPE is preferred by the pyrotechnics trade for mortars over steel or PVC tubes, being more durable and safer."

Aluminum
Marco Polo products use all aluminum frames that are welded with aluminum bead. This alleviates the common issue with lower cost furniture where the frames are steel or aluminum with steel welds - they rust in a short period of time and can stain your deck or in the worst case become unusable/unsafe. Our product has a longer lifetime because of this. Aluminum is very light and even the largest chairs can be moved by one person. We used a minimum wall of 1.5 mm and only use commercial grade aluminum.