Colored woven baskets are a nice decor addition for various spaces since the designs harmonize natural tones of materials with other colors. With specific materials, wholesale suppliers of home decor use some techniques to make colors as correct as the request. Can you name these techniques? Let us show you.
What Are Colored Woven Baskets?
Most woven baskets are manually done by skilled weavers, using natural materials which have been dried and processed properly. Top popular natural materials for made in Vietnam baskets are water hyacinth, seagrass, rattan, bamboo, corn husk, and banana bark. They all already have natural, earthy tones.
So where might added colors come from? Woven baskets wholesale can be added with other bold or light colors with different techniques during the production. Each technique will have distinctive appearance and properties. Just go explore how colored woven baskets wholesale are produced by Vietnamese wholesale suppliers of home decor.
How To Produce Colored Woven Baskets?
Bleaching
Bleaching is the technique of using chemicals to make the color of material become lighter. This technique is mainly applied for specific woody materials such as rattan (both rattan core and rattan skin) and bamboo.
Bleaching is not mandatory in the production, and this step will just be carried out if buyers require colored woven baskets, particularly made from rattan. An important thing is that not all species of rattan need bleaching. In Vietnam, rattan species like Calamus armarus Lour (‘may nuoc’) with a natural brown often require boiling and sometimes bleaching to make it more flexible and lighter in color.
Bleaching is implemented before weaving. To be specific, the materials like rattan and bamboo are often processed into thin strands, then soaked in the bleaching solution in 6-18 hours. There is no standard formula of this solution, often consisting of some main components being H2O2, NaOH, SiO2, and H2O. Afterwards, materials will be picked up to dry, either by baking and sun exposure.
Two common colors of bleached materials are ivory white (white-bleached) and light beige (semi-bleached). Actually, there might be variations of light beige – depending on the original color of materials, the amount of chemicals used and time duration.
The huge advantage of bleaching is creating uniform colors for materials which still look so natural, as well as offering additional flexibility. However, bleaching just generates limited options of light colors, and this process can have harmful impacts on the environment.
Dyeing
Dyeing is the technique of changing the color of material by using water-based solvent combined with pigments. This method can add diverse colors for woven baskets wholesale.
This coloring method can be applied with a wide range of materials, including seagrass, water hyacinth, rattan core, bamboo, corn husk, etc. Color fastness differs by material. Dyeing will work best with soft, spongy, or fibrous structure (e.g: water hyacinth); thus, rattan peel is difficult to have dye stick on.
In general, Vietnamese producers dye materials before the weaving style. Materials need to be cleaned and processed into thin stands (e.g: seagrass, rattan core, bamboo core), then dipped in the liquid mixture at high temperature. Subsequently, dyed materials will be let dry completely so that there will not be color smearing afterwards.
Dyeing gains popularity in the production of colored woven baskets wholesale since this technique is cheap, fast, and highly productive. It also allows Vietnam suppliers to add multiple colors in one single basket, and create diverse patterns by weaving natural and dyed fibers/strands together.
That being said, colors dyed on natural materials might deviate from the requirement or expectation. Also, discoloration will inevitably happen no matter what materials are used for baskets. Color will fade over time, especially light ones. Color smearing also can occur, even when dyed strands/fibers are well dried previously.
Painting
Painting is the technique of using normal paints and applying on the surface of woven baskets wholesale. This method can be applied with all natural materials, from water hyacinth to solid rattan.
Painting is commonly among the last finishing steps after all weaving work is done. The paint coating can be solid, thick or transparent (called ‘wash’). With the technique, you freely choose from a variety of colors for woven baskets wholesale.
As to color combination and fastness, painting truly gains an advantage over other methods. Not only do Vietnam producers apply many colors, but they can draw complex patterns and create aesthetic styles. In addition, you will be satisfied with paint on colored woven baskets as they are not subject to fading.
Paint finish, however, will be susceptible to peeling if it is applied on rough, uneven surface. Painting is also quoted at higher cost than other dyeing, not to mention the considerable labor cost for complicated drawing on colored woven baskets.
Carbonization
Carbonization is the technique of steaming to change the color of materials for woven baskets wholesale. It is considered the most economical, and also inflicts no harm to the environment and users. In Vietnam, carbonization technique is largely put into use for two materials: bamboo and rattan.
Before the weaving stage, materials are placed into a hermetic sealed device with steam pressure at 3 atmospheres in 45 – 60 minutes. After being steamed, materials will be let dry and then used for producing colored woven baskets.
Carbonization gives a natural brown color (caramel) for Vietnam woven baskets. Surprisingly, this technique transforms pentose (burned), thus minimizing the risk of insect attack. There are no chemicals used; instead, local people use waste rattan, bamboo or crushed wood for this burning process.
Using Colored Threads
Using colored threads means the method of using colored threads with natural materials in basket weaving. These colored threads can be plastic or cotton, in which plastic takes up more. Plastic threads come in two main shapes: round and oval, and many different colors.
Seagrass is the main material to combine with colored plastic threads, forming a weaving style called “coiled seagrass“. It brings a sturdy, long-lasting structure for woven baskets wholesale. Local weavers are also skillful at creating various patterns thanks to this coiling technique.
A benefit of this weave is no use of toxic chemicals. Colored plastic threads are durable, so they won’t brittle and break easily. Another great point is that no discoloration occurs on colored woven baskets as well. If you would like to have multiple colors or complicated patterns in one basket, the price for this will get really high. That’s because of the labor cost for local weavers who put much effort on coiling and switching to other types of colored threads.
Key Takeaways
- There are five common techniques for making colored woven baskets, including bleaching, dyeing, painting, carbonization, and using colored threads. Each method suits some certain materials and colors.
- Vietnam wholesale suppliers of home decor can combine several techniques for one woven basket, such as dyeing + using colored threads, bleaching + dyeing, etc.
- The prices not only depend on the technique for making colored woven baskets, but materials also matter.
