Moldy tape (wrong way to clean it ?)

[TONYFRANCE]

Hi everyone,

I received a moldy tape. Non sticky, just light "white powder".
I use an old vcr to clean tapes. I used a 99% isopropyl alcohol to clean the film.

Here's a sample (see attached).

Tape is really damaged or this is because of my attempting cleaning ?
I hope I didn't screw up...

[dellsam34]

it's highly likely the case, Scrubbing removes magnetic particles from the tape, therefore video information is lost, What you see is the VCR's DOC trying hard to reconstruct missing information from adjacent scan lines, If there is no DOC all those lines will be RF noise like in your avatar. You always start with light cleanup and do a capture pass in a less important VCR, then do a final clean and do another capture in a good VCR. Or use safe detergents instead of Alcohol.

[Skiller]

If the mold was mostly on the sides of the tape, opening the shell to remove the tape reels with the tape on them and then dusting off the powdery mold with compressed air might have worked, and stresses the tape much less.

[Alwyn]

Or use safe detergents

What would you suggest, brand-wise?

[TONYFRANCE]

There is no way to recover it, even a little bit ?
If I use a TapeChek Cleaner 470 RTi, the results will remain the same ? (there's a place in Paris with this tool)

[Alwyn]

I'd do another capture of that area and see if the interference/static was in exactly the same spots. That would confirm the tape is damaged.

[pandy]

You should inspect tape - perhaps this is delamination (Sticky-shed syndrome) issue - tape baking may help

[Laopowe]

Mold can be such a pain to deal with, especially when it comes to preserving important memories or information. I recently had a similar issue with some old tapes I found in my attic. It was heartbreaking to see them in such a state, so it's important to handle these delicate materials with care to avoid losing valuable content.
If anyone here is looking for professional help with mold removal or inspection, I've heard good things about this company - www.alldryus.com. They seem to have expertise in this area, so they might be worth checking out if you're dealing with a serious mold issue.