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How to Build a VHS Movie Tape Cleaner

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Author: postalsusie1 Followers

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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.

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of 11How to Build a VHS Movie Tape Cleaner

8/22/2012http://www.instructables.com/id/How-to-Build-a-VHS-Movie-Tape-Cleaner/?ALLSTEPS

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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

Info



Step 2

1) Open the old VCR removing necessary screws and pop the top off

2) Hold two Q-tips together and secure them in the middle with two pieces of scotch tape approximately

an inch and half long each.

The Q-tips should fit together in such a way as to press the top part and bottom part of the VHS tape at

the same time.

They should be together but one slightly lower than the other as shown.



Step 3

3) Fold swatch of lint free soft material (a handkerchief is ideal) in half and then wrap it around the two

ends of the Q tip you just taped together.



Step 4

4) Secure material with an elastic band as shown.



Step 5

5) Load the tape to be cleaned and rewind it to the very beginning.

6) Find the spot indicated in the picture where you will be applying gentle pressure with your Cleaning

SWAB. If you are looking at the front of the VCR it should be on your LEFT between where it leaves the

cassette case, and the VCR HEAD

(the large silver round thing)



Step 6

7) Apply 2 sprays or about 6 drops of isopropyl alcohol to the end of the swab.

8) Put the VCR in FAST FORWARD MODE and apply gentle pressure to the outside of the tape in that

spot, as shown.(This is the side of the tape that is 'read' by the heads. The heads are on the round silver

cylinder) You must do this in fast forward or rewind because if you apply pressure to the tape in another

mode, the VCR senses the pressure and stops the tape from playing.

Hold the swab there gently, until the tape stops going FAST FORWARD.



Step 7

9) Stop the machine and select REWIND and do the same procedure on the OTHER /inside of the tape

as it rewinds.

You will notice dirt build up on the end of the Q tip swab. It does not look like much but to a tape it is allot.

Play your tape and you will notice a definite difference in quality. If you get a bad static screen or tracking

bars let the tape sit for a good 30 minutes as alcohol �that hasn t evaporated yet is fouling the picture. Try

it again. You can also fast forward the tape through and then rewind and try again. This airs out the tape

so the alcohol evaporates faster.

This was done to improve tape quality on a very old VHS tape so it could be recorded on digitalized DVD

media.



Oct 13, 2010. 4:14 AM

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Sep 2, 2009. 11:40 PM

10 comments Add Comment

jekan777 says:

Thank you

tjwilson says:

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

tapes to mold.

twocvbloke says:

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

Treknology says:

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 says:

Step 8

You will see a definite difference in picture quality just like this example.



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Sep 24, 2009. 3:58 PM

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Sep 30, 2009. 12:48 AM

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Dec 29, 2009. 10:59 PM

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Jul 25, 2009. 10:33 AM

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Jul 26, 2009. 3:12 PM

Reply

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 (author) says:

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 says:

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 says:

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

Biopyro says:

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

postalsusie (author) says:

Thanks *S*



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