Interestingly enough, enough people have asked this question to warrant its inclusion on many furniture companies' FAQ lists. There is a definite difference between wicker and rattan, but you're going home with a wicker recliner or rattan dog bed nevertheless. What we're really talking about is a product versus a process.

In its original form, rattan is a relative of the tropical palm tree. Rattan starts to grow upwards like a tree, but then bends back to the ground and snakes through the rain forest like a vine. After a few years of growth, the rattan vines are cut into 12 to 18 foot (about 3.7 to 5.5 meters) sections and hauled away for drying. Furniture companies who specialize in wicker or rattan furniture often have processing plants in the Philippines or Southeast Asia to treat the rattan and ship it out to large furniture manufacturing plants in America. North Carolina has a significant number of wicker and rattan furniture companies.

Rattan is considered to be one of the strongest woods available, since its grain grows vertically instead of forming the concentric rings of most other hardwoods. The straight rattan is usually steamed and then bent into the desired shape through the use of specialized shapers. Once the rattan has dried, it will retain its shape forever. These rattan poles are often used to form the frames of what will become rattan or wicker furniture.

Here's where the difference between rattan and wicker lies. Rattan is a specific material, but wicker is the general process of weaving rattan or other materials into finished goods. A rattan chair is definitely made from rattan, but a wicker chair may use other materials such as straw or bamboo slats around a rattan frame.

There is no material on Earth called wicker. Some manufacturers may even use the phrase cane furniture in place of either rattan or wicker. It is essentially the same thing as wicker, but the material used in the weaving may or may not be rattan.

Rattan vines may also be peeled mechanically to form thin slats for weaving. The curved outer layer is also used as a decorative trim to hide the rough seams created by the wicker process. Bamboo may also be used for trim, but rarely as a form. Bamboo is hollow, which means it often cracks when steamed and bent. Rattan is solid, which makes it an ideal material for the lightweight but solid furniture we commonly call wicker.