Rabin's Mixture

Description

A Polyvinyl acetate (PVAC) formulation used in the 1970s for relining paintings. The mixture proposed by Bernard Rabin in his 1972 article is made as follows: 454 g AYAA [Union Carbide] and 454 g AYAC [Union Carbide] are mixed then dissolved in 1.4 liters of Toluene. A second mixture contain 4 g of Multiwax 445 [Witco] dissolved in 50 ml toluene is made then added to one liter of the PVAC mixture.

Risks

Toluene is flammable and explosive. Toluene is toxic by inhalation, ingestion and skin absorption

Resources and Citations

• B. Rabin "A Poly(vinyl acetate) Heat Seal Adhesive for Lining", in Conservation of Paintings and the Graphic Arts, IIC, Lisbon Congress, pp. 631-635,1972.

• Jane Down, Maureen MacDonald, Jean Te'treault, Scott Williams, Adhesive testing at the Canadian Conservation Institute-An evaluation of selected poly(vinyl acetate) and acrylic adhesives., Studies in Conservation, 41, 19-44, 1996

• Teri Hensick, contributed information, 1998