Doing some fall maintenance before putting the canoes away, although it is pretty wam out today. The cane webbing on one of our seats needed replacing, so we bought the cane webbing, and just finished installing it. Do we need to oil it? Varnish it? Leave it as is?

Had a pro shop re-cane a seat I put my knee through. They said never to put a finish on the bottom side of cane - it get brittle. Cane needs to breathe to keep some resilience. Mad River, and maybe other builders, dipped the whole seat, cane and frame, in varnish - a no-no, according to the old guys who have been re-caning furniture for decades. Oil or varnish brushed on the top is OK.

I'll trust he old guys and just oil the top then. Thanks!