Restoring vintage rattan chairs and need some help.

Hi. I have some vintage "Tropitan" chairs and some other rattan pieces that I am trying to spruce up. I only need to find a source for the ribbed plastic wrap that was used for concealing the joints. It becomes brittle over the years and breaks off in strips or just cracks. It is usually a tan or deep cream color but I also have black on a dining set. It is about 1 1/2 to 2 inches in width and has either 3 or 4 ribs. I suppose you can get it on a roll or by the foot ? I have searched the web and found nothing!! Surely someone still makes this stuff! I gotta believe that there are several of you clever TC'ers who have done this type of repair or at least know exactly what material I am looking for. It may be that it is readily available in a coastal area but not here in my mid-west pastureland.
CAN ANYONE HELP ME FIND A SUPPLIER PLEASE?
Thanks in advance!

Save the Tikis!

[ Edited by: 8FT Tiki on 2004-07-06 14:06 ]

8FT,
Try craft supply stores or fabric stores. Maybe a garden center for stuff used to tie plants to stakes?

I looked through the catalog for Frank's Cane & Rush Supply (the company I got a Rattan re-wrapping kit from).

Under "Plastic Wicker Supplies" they list "Flat Oval Plastic" that is 1/4" wide & comes in green, brown & white. The catalog says it could be used for wrapping, amoung other things.

Not exactly what your looking for, but maybe would work. The rattan re-wrapping kit comes with an instuction sheet for wrapping rattan furniture.

Or maybe they could direct you to a source for the exact item you need. The website is franksupply.com

I never really cared for that fake vinyl caning that binds some rattan furniture, so I learned how to replace it with real caning.

I've been practicing some re-caning of old rattan furniture I track down at flea markets... I'm starting to get halfway good at it....

Here's a picture of a chair corner before caning:

and after caning:

It isn't that difficult. The hardest part is learning the fancy wrap & weave patterns.