Hi everyone, I wrote a grant application this spring and was awarded $1,500 to spend on preserving our town's historic artifacts. I included metal shelving in the application but have since been given a donation of shelving. Trouble is, there's a bit of rust on most of the shelves. Is this going to be a problem for the shelves that I will be setting acid free boxes on? How about if I want to set a larger artifact on a shelf (say, something leather or wood)? Should I protect the item by putting cotton sheeting between it and the shelf or should I reject the rusty shelving altogether and buy new ones? Excuse my continued ignorance...I'm a volunteer and doing the best I can! The information you all have provided so far has probably saved our collection! Thanks for your advice, Nancy R. non-professional volunteer historian in a mostly apathetic community ========================================================= Important Subscriber Information: The Museum-L FAQ file is located at http://www.finalchapter.com/museum-l-faq/ . You may obtain detailed information about the listserv commands by sending a one line e-mail message to [log in to unmask] . The body of the message should read "help" (without the quotes). If you decide to leave Museum-L, please send a one line e-mail message to [log in to unmask] . The body of the message should read "Signoff Museum-L" (without the quotes).