Got Mold?? Let’s Fix It!
Hey there tapeheads! If you’ve been collecting VHS for very long you’ve inevitable found a tape at a flea market, yard sale, or maybe in your own storage from years gone by and pulled it out to play it only to discover the thing that makes us all say “Well CRAP!” Yep, I’m talking about mold! Now there’s some side discussion to be had on is it mold or is it the powered chemical breakdown of the tape you’re seeing? Regardless of what it is, it doesn’t need to be on your tape and really doesn’t need to go through your VCR and across your VCR heads. So let’s talk about how we deal with it.
To Clean or Not To Clean
First, let’s hit this part of the subject head on. Should you even be cleaning moldy tapes? Well, the short answer is … MAYBE! Is the tape you’re considering cleaning a $2 tape easily replaced, or is it a recording of an important event you want to digitize before losing it forever? Only you can determine the need to clean a specific tape (or tapes), but I am confident that there IS a need to clean some tape, at some point, even if you send it off to a professional to do. So with that said, let’s talk about cleaning!
Mold Cleaning Methods
There are several ways to clean “mold” (we’ll use as a placeholder for any foreign substance on your tape) and those ways range from manual cleaning of a tape by hand to using a professional cleaning machine that can cost up to $5k to purchase. You can also send in your tapes to professional services that can clean and digitize your tape for you, but if you’ve looked into them at all you’ll know they are expensive. There is also homemade cleaning machines out of rewinders and of course the most common method of using a spare/junk VCR, taking off the lid, and holding cleaning it as the tape rewinds or FF. As you know, this method can take quite a bit of time to clean a tape. In actuality, all of these methods work, but I wanted a cleaner, quicker, more cost effective (over time) way to do it so I set out to build a better moldtrap if you will.
The VHS is LIFE Cleaner
Before I send you off to watch the video, allow me to give you the basics of the machine I’ve built. It has a switch to allow you to spool forward and reverse without moving the tape, and the on/off switch is multi-speed to allow you to control the speed at which you clean. It has a vacuum attachment designed to work with the desktop vacuum I’m offering with it, but you can use it without a vacuum or with your own vacuum. The cleaning columns are designed to allow the cleaning pads to be easily put on and taken off, as well as allowing you to use the same pad multiple times by folding it over and using both sides. I recommend using the”Pec Pads” which are 4×4 non-abrasive, lint-free cleaning pads used for cleaning sensitive surfaces. But you can also use microfiber clothes or other cleaning pads that you feel work. But I designed the pad holders to work with 4×4 pads so anything smaller will not work with my pad holders. The vacuum columns do a great job of keeping the mold particles sucked into the vacuum filter when they fly off, and even without the vacuum they will do a good job at containing the mold spores for easy clean up.
One thing to keep in mind is that mold on tapes, especially if it’s heavy mold and has been in high humidity, can cause the tape to stick to itself and tear/shred as it’s being moved from one spool to another. This is unavoidable and for the most part unable to detect prior to seeing it actually happen. So, it’s always my advice to make your first pass on a heavily molded tape SLOWLY! Once you feel the tape is going to spool completely with no complications, you can then increase your speed on the next pass.
DUE TO THE OVERWHELMING RESPONSE FOR THE CLEANER, I HAVE HALTED TAKING ORDERS FOR THE MACHINE AND HAVE CREATED A WAITLIST TO PROCESS ORDERS AS I BUILD THEM. I BUILD APPROX 30 MACHINES A WEEK AND CURRENT WAIT TIME IS APPROX 12 WEEKS. IF YOU WOULD LIKE TO GET ON THE WAITLIST SEND ME A MESSAGE VIA THE CONTACT FORM!
