Clean mold off tapes and keep, or throw out?

23 Oct 2007 2:54 PM

borne

I've got about 25 video tapes from the past 15 years. 7 are old 8mm
and the rest are mini-DV. They have all been stored together in a
plastic box inside a fireproof safe. I happened to look at the 8mm
tapes and they all have mold growing on them. Possibly some slight
evidence of mold on some older mini-DV tapes, but I can't tell for
sure. I have removed the 8mm tapes and stored them in a different
location inside a zip lok bag.

Luckily, all have been digitized and backed up to two DVDs. One kept
at home and the other at work.

Should I throw out the 8mm tapes or try to clean them? I assume they
have contaminated the mini-DV tapes? If so, how do I prevent the mold
from growing on the mini-DV tapes now?

Are my 2 copies of each tape on DVD sufficient for backup purposes, or
should I have more than 2 copies?

Thanks in advance.

23 Oct 2007 8:49 PM

The Spider Formally Seated Next To Little Miss Muffet

<bo***@hboi.edu> wrote in message

Show quote

news:1193151261.375553.245730@q3g2000prf.googlegroups.com...
> I've got about 25 video tapes from the past 15 years. 7 are old 8mm
> and the rest are mini-DV. They have all been stored together in a
> plastic box inside a fireproof safe. I happened to look at the 8mm
> tapes and they all have mold growing on them. Possibly some slight
> evidence of mold on some older mini-DV tapes, but I can't tell for
> sure. I have removed the 8mm tapes and stored them in a different
> location inside a zip lok bag.
>
> Luckily, all have been digitized and backed up to two DVDs. One kept
> at home and the other at work.
>
> Should I throw out the 8mm tapes or try to clean them? I assume they
> have contaminated the mini-DV tapes? If so, how do I prevent the mold
> from growing on the mini-DV tapes now?
>
> Are my 2 copies of each tape on DVD sufficient for backup purposes, or
> should I have more than 2 copies?
>
> Thanks in advance.
>

I doubt you will be able to get the mold off without damaging the data on
them. That is provided that the mold hasn't already done that for you.
Unless they are important and contain data that can't be replaced I would
toss them. If they are important than I would see about a professional.

The Spider

--
Ignorance really is bliss, just look how happy President Bush is.

24 Oct 2007 12:54 PM

Bob A

Yes they can be successfully cleaned.
AVRS.net has done thousands of them.
Do NOT store tapes in a safe unless it is rate as a "document safe."
They will mold every time.