Prism99

All wood products contain acid unless treated to be acid-free. Wood products include cedar chests, paper, cardboard, tissue paper, etc. When fabric is stored for a long time in contact with wood products that are not acid-free, the acid gradually eats away at the fabric. This is why many antique quilts that were stored in cedar chests have brown spots on them where the fabric has been degraded with acid.

There are now "archival-quality" wood products available for storage, including acid-free boxes for wedding dresses, acid-free boxes for photo storage, acid-free tissue paper for putting inside the folds of quilts, etc.

Country1

I often ask at the store if they have any empty bolts, they freely say yes take what you need, we just throw them away.

sewNso

thanks for putting your thinking caps on for me. sometimes when we work too hard, we aren't thinking like we should. of course, i have heard about the wood shelfing turning antique quilts, and soo...... duh, for sure, since cardboard is made out of wood, it would turn our fabric after a while also. meaning...old scrap cardboard like i was using all last nite, and this morning..... so i willl gradually transfur it to 'acid free' stuff. THANKS FOR SAVING MY STASH FOR ME... i have learned sooo much from this board. want to make the 'house' blocks and just wanted to be able to see what i had.

Prism99

If you cover the cardboard with muslin, that would protect your fabrics. However, by the time you do that, it really seems not worth the cost; might as well get plexiglass cut down as some people do (don't know the details, but do know they cost a lot less than if you order the commercial boards).

jaciqltznok

before you use those cardboard bolts from the store you might want to know that not all of them are acid free...in fact in today's economy you bet they are plain old cardboard! Especially those that are not REAL bolts, but just thin cardboard with a bolt top and bottom....

They are meant to be thrown out..so NO company is going to waste money on making trash acid free....

sewNso

i will put my material on plastic. is any old plastic okay? i thought i would look in the building supplies and see what there is. MDH has said he will cut them however i want. i think he wants to play with his 'toys' to do the cutting. i almost thought , gee, i don't have too much. i have been good after all. for about 3 yrs, i have tried to use whatever i had. but i keep finding folding pieces here and there. LOL one shelving unit is full of bigger pieces.

CompulsiveQuilter

There is no such thing as acid-free corragated CARDBOARD. The very way it's manufactured makes it impossible to be acid-free, or it would be so expensive you would never be able to afford it. Foam core board (like in a frame shop) is covered with acid-free paper, but the foam itself is acidic. Only plastic can be truly acid-free.