How to finish wood shelves
 

Hubs is FINALLY building what I refer to as " my quilting garage" (He races stock cars and those babies have a primo space) He is building a wall of shelves that will be behind sliding doors to keep light off of my fabric stash. The shelves will be wood. What kind of finish, paint etc. should we use to protect the fabric? I

I don't know what has acid or not. A paint store selling quality paint and varnish/polyurethane should be able to help you.
I think I would prefer paint.

There is a product called "Make It Acid Free". It's a spray sealer from Krylon. Here's the link. http://www.krylon.com/products/make-it-acidfree/

Also on one site, they suggested lining the shelves with acid-free paper or acid-free poster board.

Why not put down plexiglass on the wood? It would save having to sand the wood. I did that was a few of my wood shelves many years ago.

Love the plexiglass idea! I have allergy problems with certain odors and would probably not be able to be around some strong stains/polyurethane. Besides what does that do to the fabric? That would worry me.

The plexiglass idea is a terrific one -- no more upkeep then, and any light you have one will go through shelves, too (assuming your shelves aren't packed solid like mine are). If too expensive, go the glass route -- that isn't really expensive, but you do have to be careful you get it thick enough to hold up to the weight of the fabric

*** Polyurethane of course - for pretty wood.

Polyurethane for pretty wood, paint for anything else. Remember that your fabric will also touch the upright frame and the back wall/panel.

Good to know about this product. Thanks for the information!