Originally Posted by grammatjr

A couple years ago I attended a "Tuesday Talk" at the International Quilt Study Center & Museum, in hopes of getting some ideas on hanging the UNL Employee Quilt Show - the first one we had done. The topic for the talk was a Behind the Scenes look at rotating the displays.

Here is a few notes I took, that may give you an answer.

"Not just any items may be used as slats to hang the quilts. They used to use wood covered in Urethane, but that took 2 weeks to dry sufficiently!
Next they tried taking raw wood, and covering it. They could not use only raw wood, because wood gives off a gas that can harm the cotton textiles. So, they found a product called Marvel Seal which is a foil type product that you fuse onto the wood. In a matter of minutes they could take the wood, and have it sealed well enough to protect the fabric. Much better!"

And, not exactly on topic, but still good advice:
"He showed us a Cigar Jacket that had been used in a show. The fabric was old, and they wanted to protect it. They decided to put the jacket on a mannequin, but once they set it on the mannequin they realized it was NOT a ladie’s jacket, but was a man’s! Well their mannequin is a petite woman form, and evidently the man the jacket was made for was rather barrel chested and portly!
Jonathan wrapped some foam around the mannequin until the right shape seemed to fill out the jacket correctly. Over the foam he then wrapped some polyester so that the foam did not touch the jacket. He said that cotton muslin is also a good barrier. He said that plastic or foam should not touch cotton."

Hope this helps.