The last VCR manufacturer closed its doors in 2016. New units are hard to find, and with a few exceptions, new movies are also hard to come by. But VHS tapes face another challenge besides obsolescence: mold. A poorly stored tape becomes fertile ground for all kinds of "colonies", and if you want to preserve its content, a good cleaning becomes essential. That's where VHS is Life comes in, with a device that enables direct mold cleaning on VHS tapes without risking your playback equipment.
I don't think I have any childhood memories saved. The humidity devoured everything, photos and tapes alike. But there was no camera in the house for recordings, and the "personal VHS" were limited to things captured from television. Those tapes also ended up in the trash, colonized by mold.
This problem is much more common than we imagine. Some people managed to store a good part of their childhood on tape: special moments with their parents, games, jokes, parties... life. Digitizing that content remains the first line of defense, but the mold must disappear first. Though there are backup and cleaning services (which can charge hundreds of dollars per job), now there is a solution distributed by the VHS is Life portal. Andru Marino of The Verge managed to access this device and put it to the test.
VHS is Life: Fighting Mold on VHS Tapes
This cleaner automates most of the process, but definitely requires some manual intervention. In addition to disassembling the VHS cassette and extracting its contents, you need to clean the first reel so it can receive the mold-free tape. The device has just two controls: one for speed and one for direction. There are two cleaning pads on top, and judging by the available images, it's not recommended to "snake" the tape between both. In short, the idea is to use one pad on each side of the tape, and switch direction for a deeper clean.
But the VHS is Life story doesn't end here. Its creator, Tony Crouch, offers a mini vacuum so mold doesn't end up floating in the air, and adapters compatible with Betamax, 8mm, Super 8, Umatic, VHS-C, and Video8/Hi8 tapes. Demand has been much higher than expected: Tony expected to sell at most 20-30 units to the public, but has already distributed more than 600, and has a backlog of 160 orders. The price also helps: $115 for the cleaner, and another $40 for the vacuum.
Official site: Click here
Source: The Verge
