Dried-out cane often sags long before it breaks. If the strands are still sound, moisture can often pull a seat back into shape. If they are brittle or cracked, moisture will not help, and the seat will need repair. The first job is working out which of those you have.
Test whether the cane is dry or damaged
Turn the chair over and look at the underside of the seat, where the cane is less exposed. Bend a strand gently in a few places, not just one. If it flexes and springs back, it can probably be re-tightened. If it snaps, splinters or cracks, that strand is past help. The seat will need repair at that spot. Check the whole seat before you decide, since one bad spot does not always mean the rest is bad.
Clean the dust off first
Vacuum the seat with a soft brush before you add any water. Dust turns into grime when it gets wet, and that grime can stain the cane.
Re-tighten sound cane with water
- Use warm water. Sponge it onto the underside of the seat, which is the unglazed side. Keep the glossy top dry, because its natural glaze resists water and wetting it does little.
- Dampen the cane until it is damp, not dripping.
- Let it air-dry, about 24 hours, before anyone sits on it.
- As the cane dries, it shrinks and pulls the sagging area taut.
Do not speed up the drying with a hair dryer or a heater. Fast drying can crack the cane.
Keep water off the wooden frame too. Wet finish can blush and turn white, so dampen the cane only, not the frame. If it does blush, how to repair damaged wood finish covers white marks. Don’t soak the whole chair either. Soaking can swell the joints and lift the finish, and it does not help the cane more than dampening the underside does.
Pressed (sheet) cane: don’t soak it in place
Pressed-cane seats are held in by spline and glue, not by drilled holes. Excess water can loosen that glue, so do not soak a pressed-cane seat in place. Use only light dampening, and keep the water away from the spline. If the sheet stays loose after that, the next step is replacement. See how to replace a cane on a chair.
Keep the cane from drying out again
- Keep the room at a steady humidity, roughly 40 to 60 percent.
- Keep the chair away from radiators, heat vents and direct sun.
- In dry climates, repeating the dampening a few times a year is common advice. How often you need to do it depends on your home, so watch the seat and adjust.
Finish or leave bare?
A thin coat of shellac or lacquer on the top slows moisture loss. If you finish the seat, leave the underside bare so you can still dampen it.
Restorers disagree about oil. Some apply a light coat of boiled linseed oil thinned with mineral spirits, and others advise against any oil. Lemon oil and spray polish do not rehydrate cane. They leave a residue that builds up over time. Test any product on a hidden spot before you use it on the seat.
Myths to drop
- Lemon oil or spray polish will not bring dried cane back.
- Soaking the whole chair does not help, and it can swell the joints.
- A sagging seat is not automatically ruined. If the strands are intact, moisture often works.
When to replace instead
Re-tightening will not fix cane that snaps, splinters or is cracked in several places. In that case, replace the affected section or the whole seat. For an overview of the full process, see how to restore old cane furniture. For what a professional recane costs, see how much it costs to have a chair recaned.