Olefin Cord for Woven Patio Chairs, Braided Rope, 5 mm x 200 ft

Rope-style outdoor chairs, stools and benches are woven from soft cord wrapped around a metal or wood frame, not from wicker strands or straps. This braided olefin cord is for re-weaving them. Olefin is polypropylene. Like most outdoor cords it tolerates water and mildew; we do not claim a specific rating. Each coil is 5 mm (3/16 in) thick and 200 ft long.

It is woven dry. There is no soaking and no heating, and it will not shrink tight afterward the way vinyl lacing does, so the tension you pull in is the tension you keep. Pull every pass snug and even.

Before you cut off the old weave:

• Take photos of the top, the underside and each corner.
• Count the passes across the seat and the back.
• Note where the cord starts and ends, and where it turns or wraps around a rail.

Then weave:

• Tie the starting end firmly to the frame on the underside, where the knot will not show.
• Copy the old pattern pass by pass, keeping the cord flat and free of twists.
• When a length runs out, knot it around a rail on the underside and start the next length the same way.
• Tie off the last end under the frame and trim it.

Cut ends of braided cord can fray. Seal each one by melting it briefly with a lighter, then tuck or tie it out of sight.

To clean the seat, wash it with mild soap and water and let it dry in the air.

Thickness: measure a strand of the old weave across. This cord is 5 mm, about 3/16 in. If your old cord is much thicker or thinner, the same pattern will space out differently, so match it as closely as you can.

How much: estimate before you cut the old weave off. Wrap a piece of string once around the frame the way one pass of cord travels, measure it, and multiply by the number of passes. Add some for knots and joins, then divide by 200 ft to get the number of coils. Work out the seat and the back separately.

Color: natural, grey or black. Natural is a light, undyed-looking tone; grey and black suit dark frames.