Adirondack or rattan garden chair
Updated: 22 October 2026
You are choosing a garden chair for a UK patio and the two names look like colours of the same idea. An Adirondack is a low, reclined seat in solid plastic lumber, usually without a cushion. A rattan chair is a weave, usually with a pad, over a metal frame you have to identify. The [garden armchair comparison](/hub/garden-furniture/garden-armchair) scores one HDPE Adirondack and no rattan armchair. This page is only the fork. Who should skip the plastic chair for other reasons is on the [best garden armchair](/hub/garden-furniture/garden-armchair/sub/garden-armchair-best) page.
You are choosing a garden chair for a UK patio and the two names look like colours of the same idea. An Adirondack is a low, reclined seat in solid plastic lumber, usually without a cushion.
You are choosing a garden chair for a UK patio and the two names look like colours of the same idea. An Adirondack is a low, reclined seat in solid plastic lumber, usually without a cushion. A rattan chair is a weave, usually with a pad, over a metal frame you have to identify. The garden armchair comparison scores one HDPE Adirondack and no rattan armchair. This page is only the fork. Who should skip the plastic chair for other reasons is on the best garden armchair page.
Our top picks
| Badge | Product | Sit | Frame | Cushion | Note | Price | Offer |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Best overall |  GOODS EMPORIUM GOODS EMPORIUM aluminium garden armchairs, set of 2 | Aluminium lounge | Aluminium | Not stated | 9.4 | about £219.99 | View offer |
 MIDOUAUTOUK MIDOUAUTOUK folding HDPE Adirondack chair, grey | Adirondack | HDPE | Not listed | 8.6 | about £89.99 | View offer | |
| Best value |  FLEXISPOT FLEXISPOT papasan rocking armchair, grey | Papasan rocker | Steel and wood | In the title | 8.0 | about £139.95 | View offer |
On this page
Two different sits
An Adirondack is a reading chair. The back slopes, the arms are wide, and the seat is low enough that getting out is part of the decision. On the MIDOUAUTOUK folding HDPE model kept here, B0DJQYWGKH, the listing is 93 × 80 × 93 cm and 17 kg, outdoor, at £89.99. Reviewers describe a relaxed position for an evening with a book, wide armrests, and a cup holder. One called the chair quirky and low, and said a cushion on the lower back helped. The comparison field says Armless. The reviews do not. Buy the recline you see in the photographs, not the word Armless.
A rattan garden armchair, as UK shops use the word, is closer to an upright lounge chair. Comfort usually depends on a boxed cushion rather than on the angle of a solid shell. House & Garden tells you not to leave real rattan out in the rain. A deep Adirondack will not pull up to a dining table. A woven dining armchair will not give you the sloped hour the plastic chair is for. The chair in this comparison is HDPE, not timber. That changes the upkeep and it does not change the posture. Decide which afternoon you are buying before you compare prices.
What you will actually maintain
The practical difference shows up the first time it rains on a cushion. The HDPE Adirondack in this set does not list a cushion in the components. Reviewers wipe the shell after dust or rain. Some add a pad because the lower back feels firm, and that pad is then their problem. One report says the armrests warped and separated after three months outside. A wipe does not answer that. The how to look after a garden armchair page separates a clean from a return.
A PE rattan chair asks for a brush, soapy water and an air dry, with the cushions off, and it asks you to keep bleach, oil and a pressure washer away from the strands. The cushion comes inside. If you leave it under a sealed cover, Harts' experience is mould. You are maintaining the lattice and the pad. That is a fair price for a softer, more upright chair. It is a poor surprise if you thought rattan meant the same wipe as a plastic Adirondack.
The frame under the weave is the part shoppers skip. Ideal Home's rattan guide points you to aluminium rather than an unnamed steel. Which? separates natural wicker, which is not weatherproof, from synthetic polyethylene resin. If the listing says rattan and does not say what the frame is, you do not yet know whether you have bought a winter rust problem. This comparison cannot show you a kept rattan ASIN that passed that check.
Winter and wind
HDPE does not come with one frost rule. VonHaus, on a different Adirondack at £119.99, tells you to store that chair away in frosty weather and states 110 kg. British Recycled Plastic says its own furniture can stay out in rain, snow and frost. The MIDOUAUTOUK bullets talk about snow. A reviewer of that chair reported warped, separated armrests after three months outdoors. You follow the brand you bought, and you treat a warped arm as a complaint rather than as a cleaning tip. Barker and Stonehouse add that plastic can harden in a freeze and suggest bringing furniture in for extreme cold. That is retailer advice, not a test of this ASIN.
Synthetic weave on a sound aluminium frame is what UK guides leave outside, with a breathable cover and the cushions indoors. Natural cane is the one House & Garden and Which? do not want in the rain. Which? also notes that resin furniture is light and can blow over. The Adirondack here weighs 17 kg. Reviewers call that weight a nuisance when they move it, and the same mass is what keeps a chair from skating across a deck. If you will not store a cushion, the woven chair becomes a damp pad on a pretty frame.
Which to buy from this comparison
Choose the kept Adirondack when you want a low recline, you are happy with plastic lumber, and a cushion is optional. That is B0DJQYWGKH at £89.99, 4.2 from 31 reviews, 93 × 80 × 93 cm, 17 kg, outdoor, 150 kg and a 330-pound bullet that say the same band. You accept a fiddly build for some people, a low sit, a heavy fold, and one report of armrests that warped. You do not get a scored rattan alternative beside it.
Choose a PE rattan armchair with an aluminium frame when you want a woven, more upright chair and you will look after a cushion. Do that search outside this scored table. This comparison did not keep a rattan listing. Look for the words polyethylene and aluminium, a cushion that is either included or priced, and a user weight if you need one. If the listing is natural wicker, it is the wrong side of Which?'s line for a wet patio.
Do not buy the Adirondack as a dining chair, and do not buy rattan that fails to name the frame. Aluminium pairs and papasan rockers are on the main comparison. They are not a third answer to this fork. The papasan is a rocking bowl with a thin-pad complaint and a rust comment after three days. The aluminium pair is two frames at £219.99 with three text-less reviews.
Common questions
Which is more comfortable for reading?
The Adirondack, if you like a low recline and a wide arm for a mug. Reviewers of the MIDOUAUTOUK chair describe that evening-in-the-garden sit, and one wanted a cushion only at the lower back. A PE rattan chair is more comfortable if you want to sit more upright and you accept a pad. Comfort here is posture plus whether you will store that pad. It is not a lab score, and this set did not sit-test a weave model.
Is rattan on Amazon natural cane?
Often it is not. Outdoor listings usually mean polyethylene weave over a metal frame. Natural wicker is the material Which? says is not weatherproof. If the bullet does not say polyethylene, PE or synthetic resin, ask the question before you pay. Real cane on a UK patio is a storage project. The word rattan alone does not tell you which you have clicked.
Do I need a cushion on an Adirondack?
The MIDOUAUTOUK listing does not include one. Several reviewers found the recline comfortable without it, and one said a lower-back cushion helped. Add a pad if you want a softer lumbar feel, then take it indoors when it rains. You do not need a full boxed cushion to make the chair usable. If you only like a deep upholstered sit, this shell is the wrong purchase and a cushioned weave is the other side of the fork.
What frame should the rattan have?
Aluminium, under polyethylene weave. That is the combination Ideal Home points to, because the frame is the part that rusts when the weave is only the skin. Steel under a pretty lattice is how a chair that looked fine in June shows washers blooming in September. The FLEXISPOT rockers in this set are a different product, and one review already reports rust after three days outside. Use that as a warning about steel, not as a rattan review.
Can I use the Adirondack at a dining table?
No. The sit is a recline, and reviewers call the MIDOUAUTOUK chair low. You will not get your knees under a table in a useful way, and the wide arms get in the way of a place setting. For an upright chair with arms at a table, look at the type note on the main comparison, or at a woven armchair that is actually a dining height. Buying this HDPE chair and then blaming the cup holder misses the shape you ordered.
Related pages
Sources
Public UK sources for this comparison. Shelf prices observed 21 October 2026. Page updated 22 October 2026.
- BSI: BS EN 581-1:2017, outdoor furniture general safety (retrieved 21 October 2026)
- BSI: BS EN 581-2:2026, mechanical safety for outdoor seating (retrieved 21 October 2026)
- GOV.UK: General Product Safety Regulations 2005, Great Britain (retrieved 21 October 2026)
- Consumer Rights Act 2015, section 22 (retrieved 21 October 2026)
- GOV.UK: Accepting returns and giving refunds (retrieved 21 October 2026)
- Harts Furniture: frequently asked questions (retrieved 21 October 2026)
- Barker and Stonehouse: garden furniture care guide (retrieved 21 October 2026)
- Ideal Home: rattan garden furniture buying guide (retrieved 21 October 2026)