Regular cement is an enormous energy user to produce. To make cement it requires more energy to make it than steel. Wood by far produces less carbon to produce. You also promoting an industry that is a renewable. Trees are replanted here in the Pacific Northwest after harvest. Trees absorb carbon dioxide and store it. The trick is to use the wood material wisely. Building a container without a liner is like wasting 30 to 40 years of tree growth. One could use roofing cement (tar made from petroleum distillation), but as previous stated it leaches unwanted chemicals in the soil, there are some that are made from other materials, but these are not easy to apply. Wood is by far the cheapest used material; though, It is apparent that big box stores and many smaller identities are only concerned in making profits. They certainly do not care about the environment, this goes onward down to the consumer.... they all want the cheapest Chinese made items just so they can have the highest profit margins and lowest price. Most consumers are purchasing to keep up with Joe Schmoe or the Jones' family. These products are built with basically slave waged labor and packed flat boxes, shipped thousand of miles ( even in many cases the wood, logs are shipped thousand of miles producing tons of carbon to transport), last they are packed with inadequate/substandard fasteners- You might as well throw these planters away for these planters will make it only through one or two growing season... We must treat the environment wisely, if we are going to survive. We must buy things that have utility/longevity, buy less than more, buy things that have the least carbon using foot print and buy things we absolutely need.

I have seen spray bottles of strap cleaner in the stores. A patio store or even Home Dep. might have it. Frankly, I wipe my chairs down but I don't worry about what is under the straps. We're in a milder climate than yours and the set sits out year 'round.

I think that, in the light of the fascination that moderns seem to have with new, especially "innovative" stuff ... ... Socks12345's idea (did I count correctly?) sounds like a good one to me. Her second one, that is. ole joyful

I say paint it. It's beautiful as is, but you've considered this for years and aren't making a hasty decision. It will definitely be transformed and in a sense given new life. It may respond well to the joy it brings you. I do agree with others that it's a good idea to try out your technique on a little test piece from a thrift store. Yours is big and a bit complex. I recently refinished a small student desk and I ran out of inconspicuous spots to test my colors. Even now, I open drawers and see splotches on the inside of the drawer fronts. Can someone point me to a link about chalk paint? At first I thought you all were talking about chalkboard paint and I thought, oh for love the love of God, no. Clearly it's something else.