repo- have you tried a pullout system? I ask- trying to be helpful- cuz I have both- a pullout system and pullout shelves. I much prefer the shelves for accessibility and practicality. I have the system in one pantry as it is side mount and that left me room on one side for brooms/etc. So for that instance, it was the best solution. but when you pull them all out at once, you lose the ability to reach in from the top, so you either can't stack things to maximize space or you can only reach in from the sides. I also really liked the look/idea of the pullout shelves while shopping (Of course there wasn't anything in them at the time), but am really glad that now I didn't buy one for the main pantry. Having said that- Lee Valley is a good source, and they have incomparable customer service- and will stand behind their products. They are very well-priced too! Here is a link that might be useful: Lee Valley

Galvanized is zinc which is toxic. To make clean swages takes practice, and lots of time. I have mastered the swaging of ferrules and thimble eyes on cable ends because I have done it 1,000's of times. The measurements must be precise, which is extremely difficult for long pieces of non-rigid material. The ferrule has to be crimped in a certain order to tighten up to the thimble and then to elongate and cover up the sharp, frayed end of the wire rope. You must use 7x19 wire rope for bendability. You will find it nearly impossible to swage ferrules with thimbles in the field. The eyebolt must be connected first, then feed the cable through the posts, pull it as tight as possible, secure it in the tight position and swage the stop ferrule to the end. then figure out how to make it a clean edge. I pay the $1,500 for the prefabbed stainless cables with the clean tensioners, wire rope grabs and end caps. I have already mastered cable making so it is an easy decision. It takes me a few hours to run the cables on a standard deck. The post drilling and installation is the bulk of the labor. My buddy likes the look of my deck railing but had never even unspooled a roll of wire rope. He tried your idea. 4 years later he still has the rolls of cable in the garage and keeps asking me to borrow the tool to make the clean ends he sees on other cable assemblies I put together (on gates and such.) He doesn't understand the clean end is the result of 1,000's of times practicing. He thinks I have an automatic press that does it for you! So forget the zinc wire rope and making your own cable assemblies. You can already save $4,500 by buying the prefabbed ones and DIY.

I cook multiple times a day and have open shelving. I clean them like I clean the rest of my kitchen. I had concerns as you do now but the dirtiest parts of my kitchen on a daily basis are the sinks and the garbage pullout. Oh, and the refrigerator handles. And under the stools where my kids sit. And the corner between the cabinets and wall where my dog lays and drools and his fur rubs everywhere. The shelves fall somewhere on the list, too, but not at the top.

When these shelves were common, kitchens lacked dishwashers, and -- as a result... as a result they became damaged from the hot water activity going on in the sink! My aunt has them in her 1950s house. There was no dishwasher until sometime in the 1980s. The finish on the shelves didn't hold up, but the wood itself is just fine. She keeps little plants and the occasional small objet from her grandkids on them. I have half-round shelves at the end of the peninsula under the countertop, and smaller ones at the end of the overhead peninsula cabinets, in my 1960 house. The smaller shelves just hold seasonal objets. The lower ones hold the napkins, salad spinner (because we use it often and there's no place else for it), Joy of Cooking, and some cute vintage-wannabe bowls. Those just get the dust washed out quickly when we use them.