Tape Maintenance and Storage

MJV Enterprises
143 Front Street
Hooversville, PA  15936-8112
(800) 381-4836

• Store your tapes in a cool dry area. The attic is about the worst place you could store them because the heat will severely degrade the binder (the adhesive that holds the magnetic particles to the plastic tape). The basement is probably not a good idea either because mold will grow on the inside of the case and cause you problems as well.

• Every 10-15 plays, you should rewind the tape to the beginning, fast-forward to the end and rewind the tape again. This prevents tapes from binding inside the case. This is especially common among audio cassettes that are not played from start to finish.

• If you have to store tapes in the car, we recommend keeping them under the seat. By no means should they be kept out in the direct sunlight. The glove box is probably the next best place, but even the temperature inside can get high enough to cause binder damage.

• Let tapes come to room temperature before playing them.  Cold tapes are very brittle and can easily snap when tension is applied in your VCR.

• If you have little choice and you must store a tape in a damp area, keep it inside a sealed ziploc type plastic bag and put a bag of silica gel inside the bag.  Store it in complete darkness.  Every so often, you can restore the silica gel by baking it for a few minutes at no more than 200°F.