How to Build a VHS Movie Tape Cleaner

This process was needed to effectively clean a very old movie tape so that the quality of the picture was improved and it could be encoded and saved to digital DVD media.

Aside from classic movies it may also be helpful to those of you trying to transfer your old family VHS movies to DVD. You can noticeably improve the quality before you record it onto a computer.

Providing you are gentle.(Not much pressure is needed at all) There are no worries of damaging your original VHS tape. Though you cannot SEE allot of dirt on the final cleaning swap, it is there. This process made a huge difference in picture quality.

Step 1

TAKE NOTE: VHS Tapes are magnetic. You should not have anything magnetic in your work area.

Items needed;

Movie tape to be cleaned
an old VCR machine
Scissors
Scotch tape
Isopropyl alcohol
A hair elastic
2 inch square piece of soft non lint material
2 Q tips / cotton swabs
Screwdrivers to work with

Comments

[jekan777]

Thank you

[tjwilson]

Will this work on VHS tapes that have mold on them? We live in Belize and the humidity causes the tapes to mold.

[twocvbloke]

Forget VHS, get a Betamax instead.... :P

[Treknology]

This all depends on:
The value of the VCR;
The value of the Tape;
The value of the Data.

In a VHS machine, the only places where "wet" tape should  stick while playing are Erase Head, Flying Heads, Audio Head and Track Counter, in FF or RW mode, the only contact on the data side of the tape is the electronic tape counter (if you even have one).

When it comes to cleaning the heads--NEVER use a head cleaning cassette. Use a nice clean handkerchief and some propanol (or even metho), and lightly press sideways against the whole drum, including the stationary section underneath. Gently rotate the dum back and forth. This ensures that you apply no additional pressure than a normal tape would, and it is far less abrasive that so-called cleaning tapes.

Always change to a clean part of the handkerchief, and make sure that you do each head at least three times--on a 6-head VCR, that s18 individual manual head-cleaning cycles

[grantaccess]

Nice instructable. I've worked on a few digitization projects for vintage video formats - I guess VHS is in the same category now. A couple of comments: There's a cloth that's used as a sewing interface that's sold under the brand name "Pellon." This is what engineers at Ampex have been recommending since the 70s for cleaning magnetic media. I would use this for your "lint free" material. Second, I wouldn't use a liquid cleaner on the tape while it is threaded and moving. It's easy for tape to stick to metal posts or guides when wet and start winding itself around something it shouldn't. If the tape kinks or creases then it can lead to head clogs when played back. Cleaning the heads when fully clogged can take time and patience. The heads are also easily destroyed if not cleaned properly.

[postalsusie]

Hi grantaccess , The only sewing interface I have ever worked with is extremely scratchy compared to a cotton handkerchief. What ever people choose to use, they must use something very soft and delicate and lint less, and that must be made very clear. *s* Second.. I have never had trouble cleaning any heads on VCRs or stereos. Its delicate but simple. People do not have to be afraid to do this as long as they are gentle. Though I did not recommend cleaning heads in this instructable, a person can just pop their head cleaning tape in afterwards if they fear it may have become gummed up. Third- this instructable was meant for laymen and with easy to find tools. Trying to find special liquid cleaners sold where? for how much? and lastly, 6 drops of cleaning alcohol isnt going to soak anything or cause a pile up of tape to be wrapped in a bow around your feeders and cogs. Though I appreciate your input, its comments like these that make people afraid to be hands-on, and then they end up paying a tech 85$ an hour to do a less than great job. If someone can afford that, they wouldnt be coming to instructables.com Thank you for your participation. :o)

[grantaccess]

Hi Postal I don't know what brands/types of sewing interface you've used or what it feels like to you. I'm only passing along the technical specs for the materials that are currently (at least recently), considered best practices in dealing with archival media. Use what you like. Second, when I mentioned cleaning the heads I wasn't talking about popping a cleaning tape into the machine. Head clogs that occur due to a kinked tape impacting the head isn't likely to be cured by a cleaning tape. Third, I'm not sure where I mentioned hard to find tools and cleaners. In fact I purposely didn't mention them because this is an instructable for laymen. If people did want to know about manually cleaning heads on helical scan VTRs the info is easily available online or they can message me. BTW there's a slight difference between cleaning the video heads on a VCR and cleaning the heads of a stereo (I assume you mean audio cassette.) fourth, six drops of cleaning solution on a tape as it moves through the machine absolutely can cause the tape to stick to a guide or the head drum and cause a variety of threading errors. Because it doesn't happen in your VCR, where you apply the solution, doesn't mean everybody will have the same experience. Fifth, I wouldn't discourage people from being hands on and experimenting with fixing, restoring, modding vintage video players. I'm self taught myself. Lastly, I'm not sure that you do appreciate my input.

[Polymorph]

I have to agree with grantaccess. I've been an electronics tech for over 20 years.

[Biopyro]

Very good. This is the kind of stuff instructables was made for!

[postalsusie]

Thanks *S*