This continues our ongoing writing to help our readers better understand how to determine quality wicker products. We always repeat ourselves In explaining that factory welded aluminum frames are superior to steel for outdoor furniture. Lighter weight for moving, stacking or storing. Aluminum does not rust. Now onto the size of the furniture.
Seat sizes are very important. If the seats are not wide enough & deep enough you may not be comfortable and not use or enjoy your furniture as much. The normal seat size for chairs that just house seat cushions, no backs is 18” x 18”. We are not comfortable in that size seat so we make our smaller seats 19” wide x 20” deep and our larger seats 19.5” wide x 21.5” deep. We also try to make our cushions so they extend over the front of the chair seats a little & the back of our legs rest against cushion instead of chair frame. For full size furniture that house both seat & back cushions there are lots that are 23” wide x 24 ‘ deep. We make ours 24” wide x 26’ deep. We do offer some smaller size frames so they fit in less spacious areas, but As a rule full size is 26” deep. This allows for nice thick cushions where the seat cushion comes all the way down behind your leg towards your knee. We also find that American Made cushions are superior to cushions made Overseas.
The workers there have the skills, but the companies making furniture with steel frames that require assembly, lesser quality wicker & smaller seats are doing that to reduce production costs so they can sell their products for lower process. They are trying to make their products look like a bargain. They may also cut corners with thinner, lesser quality cushions. I know when people buy these sets they often come to us to make new cushions for them.