Rattan garden storage boxes are worth buying when the weave is PE rattan (polyethylene) over a rigid frame with a sealed inner liner, and a poor buy when they are natural rattan or an unlined weave sold on looks alone. The word that decides everything is the material of the strand: UV-stabilised PE rattan holds its colour and shape for 7 to 12 years outdoors, PVC-based rattan stiffens and fades in 2 to 3 summers, and real cane rattan swells, blackens and rots through a single wet British winter. A rattan box is a styling layer, not a storage technology, so its water resistance comes from the liner and lid beneath the weave, never the weave itself. This guide takes the rattan-effect box apart strand by strand, names the polymers, explains why an unlined weave leaks, and puts a number on what the look actually costs against a plain resin box.
Are rattan garden storage boxes any good?
Rattan garden storage boxes are a good buy for the buyer who wants outdoor storage that reads as furniture, provided it is PE rattan over a steel or resin frame and lined inside. Judged on appearance and low upkeep, a lined PE-rattan box matches a plain resin box for weatherproofing while looking like part of a patio set rather than a utility bin. The case against rattan boxes comes from two cheaper versions of the product: natural cane, which belongs indoors in a UK climate, and thin PVC or unlined weave, which fades early or lets rain track through the joints onto the contents. The rattan finish adds cost and adds nothing to the storage itself, so the box is worth it only when the look is worth the premium to you. For the wider decision across resin, steel, timber and rattan, the complete garden storage box buying guide sets the four choices in order; this article goes one level deeper into the weave.
PE rattan vs natural rattan: which survives outside?
PE rattan survives outside and natural rattan does not, which is why almost every "rattan" garden storage box sold in the UK is synthetic. Natural rattan is the cane of a climbing palm, and it is hygroscopic: it drinks water from damp air, swells, then splits and grows mildew as it dries and rewets through the seasons. In a country where the average garden sees rain on roughly 150 days a year, an unprotected cane weave is soft within one winter and structurally gone within two. PE rattan is a polyethylene strand extruded to imitate the cane, and being a plastic it neither absorbs water nor feeds mould. The table below sets the two side by side on the attributes that decide an outdoor life.
The practical rule is short: buy natural rattan for a hallway bench or a conservatory, never for the garden. A cane box left outside is a two-season purchase whatever the price, because no amount of oiling stops a hygroscopic material taking on water through a British winter. Every claim about durability, water resistance and low maintenance that follows in this guide applies to PE rattan only. Where a listing simply says "rattan" without naming a polymer, treat it as unverified and check the material statement before buying, because the gap between the two is the gap between a decade outdoors and a ruined box by spring.
What is PE rattan, and how is a rattan box built?
PE rattan is a polyethylene strand woven over a rigid frame, so a rattan storage box is a three-layer object: a frame, a weave and a liner. The strand is extruded polyethylene, typically a flat band around 8 mm wide or a round section near 3 mm, coloured and UV-stabilised through its whole thickness rather than painted on the surface. That strand carries none of the load. It is wrapped and clipped onto a structural frame, and the frame is what holds the box square and bears the lid. Understanding the three layers explains every strength and every weakness the box has.
The frame is the part that decides lifespan, and it comes in two forms. The commoner is a welded skeleton of 0.8 to 1.2 mm powder-coated steel, which is stiff, holds a lid true and takes a hinge and a hasp, at the cost of some weight and a rust risk anywhere the powder coat is chipped through to bare metal. The alternative is a moulded high-density polyethylene inner shell that doubles as frame and liner in one piece, lighter and rust-proof but usually less rigid over long spans. On a steel-framed box the weave hides the metal and the liner is a separate loose or clipped-in sheet; on a moulded-shell box the "liner" and frame are the same wall. Either way, the strand you can see is doing the least structural work in the whole box.
Is the weave PE, PVC or PU? The material that decides fade
The weave is worth buying only when it is PE, because the two other synthetics sold as "rattan" fail outdoors in different ways. Three plastics dominate the wicker market and a listing rarely spells out which one it uses. PE (polyethylene) is the outdoor-grade material: UV-stabilised, flexible in cold, and rated for a decade or more of sun and frost. PVC (polyvinyl chloride) is cheaper to weave, holds fine detail, but turns brittle in cold and its plasticisers migrate out under ultraviolet, so a PVC weave stiffens and fades within two or three UK summers and can crack along a fold in hard frost. PU (polyurethane) is the premium indoor wicker: soft, convincing, and destroyed by weather within a season, so it should never appear on a garden box at all.
UV resistance is the attribute the polymer choice really governs. Ultraviolet radiation breaks the long molecular chains at a plastic's surface, and the stabiliser additives in outdoor-grade PE absorb that energy so the strand keeps its colour and flex for around 7 years before the weave begins to stiffen and the shade flattens. PVC without robust stabilisation loses that battle far sooner, which is the single commonest reason a "rattan" box looks tired long before it should. When a box is genuinely PE and stabilised, sun is a slow enemy measured in years, not seasons. The reliable tell is the material statement: a box that names PE or polyethylene rattan is the one to trust, and a box that says only "rattan effect" is one to question.
Why an unlined rattan box leaks
An unlined rattan box leaks because the weave is a screen, not a skin, and rain finds the gaps between the strands. A PE strand sheds the water that lands on it, but a woven surface is full of small openings by design, and in heavy or wind-driven rain water tracks through those joints and runs down the inside face of the weave. Nothing about the rattan look changes this. The weave that gives the box its whole appeal is exactly what stops it being watertight, so the interior stays dry only when a continuous barrier sits behind the weave. That barrier is the liner, and its presence, not the quality of the weave, is what separates a box that protects cushions from one that soaks them.
Liners take three forms, and the difference matters when you shop. Best is a moulded inner shell, a rigid HDPE tub that the weave wraps around, which seals like any plastic deck box and drains any ingress out through the base. Next is a fitted fabric or PVC liner, a sewn bag clipped inside the frame that keeps splash off the contents but wets through in a downpour and needs drying out. Worst is no liner, where the weave is the only wall and the box is a laundry basket that happens to have a lid. Before trusting a rattan box with anything that must stay dry, confirm which of the three it has, and treat "water-resistant weave" in a listing as a claim about the strand, not the box. A rattan box without a sealed liner belongs to items that tolerate damp, not to cushions or tools.
How long does a rattan storage box last, and how does it fade?
A PE rattan storage box lasts 7 to 12 years outdoors, and the frame beneath the weave sets where in that band it lands. The polyethylene strand itself would run to the top of the range or beyond, but the box fails at its weakest layer, so a chipped and rusting steel frame or a perished fabric liner ends the box before the weave gives out. Colour, not structure, is usually what ages first. The chart below shows the pattern of fade by weave colour and quality that owners report across a UK decade, and it explains why two rattan boxes bought the same day can look years apart.
Two lessons follow from the fade curve. First, choose grey or a neutral shade over a rich brown if long looks matter, because a lighter, greyer weave loses a smaller share of its tone as it ages and hides the change far better than a saturated colour that has further to fall. Second, siting beats the strand: a box on a shaded north or east wall ages at a fraction of the rate of the same box baking on a south-facing patio, so position is a free upgrade to colour life. The structural life of a lined, steel-framed PE box outruns its good looks, which means fade, not failure, is what usually prompts replacement, and both fade and failure are slowed most by keeping the box out of the harshest afternoon sun.
What does the rattan look actually cost?
The rattan finish adds roughly £25 to £45 to a box over a plain resin one of the same capacity, a premium of about 35 to 50 per cent for the same litres of storage. A plain UV-stabilised resin deck box around 300 to 490 litres sits near £45 to £95 in the UK market; a rattan-effect box of comparable capacity runs from about £55 to £130, with the gap widest at the budget end where the plain box is cheapest. The chart makes the like-for-like comparison at three capacities, holding everything but the finish constant.
What the premium buys is appearance, and it buys nothing else. A rattan box does not hold more, seal better or last longer than the equivalent plain resin box; the extra outlay pays for a weave that matches a furniture set instead of a smooth moulded panel that does not. That is a fair trade for a buyer furnishing a visible patio and a poor one for a buyer hiding a box down the side return, where no one sees the finish. Spend the premium where the box is on show, and save it where the box is out of sight, because the storage is the same either way. One caution at the bottom of the market: a rattan box priced below a plain resin one is almost certainly PVC or unlined, and the saving is the corner that was cut.
Matching a rattan storage box to your furniture set
A rattan storage box earns its premium when it matches the set it sits beside, and matching turns on three details buyers overlook. The weave colours sold as "rattan" are not interchangeable, and a box a shade off the sofa reads as an afterthought rather than a matching piece. Before buying, check the box against the set on colour, weave pattern and strand type, using the pairing points below.
The cleanest result comes from buying the box and the set as a range from the start, because a maker's own weave and colour are consistent across its pieces in a way that a separately bought box rarely equals. Where the set is already in the garden, take a strand-level photo in daylight and compare it against the box's material image rather than the styled lifestyle shot, which is lit to flatter. A rattan box that matches carries the whole scheme; a box that nearly matches draws the eye to the difference, and at that point the plain resin box you could have bought for less would have looked more deliberate.
The buying verdict
Buy a rattan garden storage box when three things are true: the weave is named PE or polyethylene, the box has a sealed liner or moulded inner shell, and the finish matches something you will actually look at. Get those right and you have a box that stores exactly what a plain resin box stores while looking like part of the garden, for a premium of £25 to £45 that is fair when the box is on show. Avoid natural rattan for any outdoor use, avoid PVC and PU weaves, and avoid any unlined box for cushions or tools. Where the box lives out of sight, skip the premium and buy plain resin, because the rattan pays only for looks. Browse lined PE-rattan alongside the resin, steel and timber options in the garden storage boxes collection, and if the aim is to match an existing set, start from the weave and colour of the rattan garden furniture range and size the box to hold that set's cushions over winter.
Rattan garden storage box FAQs
Are rattan garden storage boxes any good?
Lined PE-rattan storage boxes are a good buy, matching a plain resin box for weatherproofing while looking like garden furniture. The finish adds £25 to £45 and no storage benefit, so it is worth it only where the box is on show. Avoid natural rattan outdoors and avoid any unlined weave for items that must stay dry.
What is the difference between PE rattan and natural rattan for storage?
PE rattan is a UV-stabilised polyethylene strand that sheds water and lasts 7 to 12 years outdoors. Natural rattan is palm cane that absorbs water, swells and rots within two UK winters. Almost every outdoor rattan storage box is PE; natural rattan suits indoor or conservatory use only, never an exposed garden.
Do rattan storage boxes last outside?
PE rattan storage boxes last 7 to 12 years outside, limited by the frame and liner rather than the weave. Colour usually fades before the box fails, fastest on south-facing sites and in rich brown shades. Grey and neutral weaves hold their look longest, and shade or an east wall extends both colour and structural life.
Are rattan storage boxes waterproof?
The weave is not waterproof; water passes through the joints in heavy rain. A rattan box keeps contents dry only when a sealed moulded inner shell or a fitted liner sits behind the weave. Confirm the box is lined before storing cushions or tools, and treat "water-resistant weave" as a claim about the strand, not the whole box.
Why does my rattan storage box get wet inside?
An unlined or loosely lined rattan box wets inside because rain tracks through the open weave and runs down the interior face. The fix is a continuous barrier behind the weave: a rigid HDPE inner shell seals best, a clipped fabric liner keeps off splash but wets through in a downpour, and no liner leaves the weave as the only wall.