# Art/Object Issues > Collections Care >  Marvelseal for storage cart?

## Betsy Bruemmer

I have a large wooden cart that our exhibits dept. made for me out of plywood and 1 x 4s. See image below. I plan to load the cart with a bunch of signs that need to be transported to another storage facility and they will likely remain stored on the cart. Would it be adviseable and possible to seal the wood with marvelseal rather than paint it with epoxy or shellac? I don't have a clean ventilated space large enough for painting. I've seen marvelseal used in crates and textile rollers but I've never actually used it myself. I also intend to pad the crossbars with ethafoam but the more I read, the more I'm convinced I should seal the wood. Thanks!
LargeStorageCart..jpg

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## JasonO

Sealing wood is done primarily for closed environments like artifact cases and crates.  Plus it provides a vapor barrier in crates that may be transported in a variety of environmental conditions.  It is used on textile tubes because many times the tubes are not "archival" cardboard.

What do you mean when you say you are going to store "signs" on the cart?  Are they collection items?

I don't think you need to use anything like Marvelseal on the cart that will be in a large storage space, PLUS Marvelseal is pretty expensive!  Leaving it as is (with padding) should be fine.  However, if you are worried about it, putting a little Marvelseal along the bottom where the signs will rest would do no harm.

Jason

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## Betsy Bruemmer

Thanks Jason. I do plan to store large signs (that are artifacts) made out of plastic, metal and painted wood on the cart until I have a more appropriate space available. You are correct that they will be in a large room rather than an enclosed environment, so I suppose any indoor pollution created by the adhesives in the plywood would be minimal and perhaps not worth the effort on a practical level. It's a tough call with a history collection that has its own inherent vice issues. I was planning to add ethafoam as a cushion between the wood and the objects, so I'll just stick with that.

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