Rampant Fungus Destroying Old VHS Video Tapes
More troublesome than the destruction of our fave '80s hits, which are mostly available on DVD anyway, is the mold's desecration of families' precious memories and historical footage. Families with infected tapes may sit down with their popcorn to watch a recording of little Stevie's bar mitzvah or the funny one where Fluffy falls in the bathtub, only to find them unwatchable.
Unusually high humidity has meant that the mold has already scourged thousands of miles of AV tape throughout the UK, not counting tons of tape that are probably rotting in storage. And it's spreading, says the Observer,"at an alarming rate."
If you have the mold, which looks like " a fine white dust," then quarantine the infected tape ASAP. Spores will spread like the bubonic plague, and one moldy tape can ruin your whole archive.
So far, the problem doesn't seem to be too epidemic here in the States, but in case you're worried, you should take a look at this bit of advice from the British Library Sound Archive, which advises that tapes should be kept in the dark, away from heat sources. Moisture is also an enemy of tapes and breeds mold, so keeping tapes in a dry place is advised. [Source: The Guardian]
Reader Comments (Page 1 of 1)
Dayle @ Jul 23rd 2008 6:28PM
I live in Rhode Island,USA, and this past year I found mold in hundreds of my VHS tapes...they are all useless. They were kept in Rubbermaid bins. It is heartbreaking. The tapes were all from the 80"s and 90's.
retro77 @ Jul 23rd 2008 6:37PM
In reading this I am scared and I don't even own VHS tapes!
Shawn @ Jul 23rd 2008 6:53PM
Dehumidify
This fungus is a bastard
Protect Ghostbusters!
Joseph Turner @ Jul 23rd 2008 8:11PM
You have to be kidding,. Viruses or fungus need a way of transmission. Tapes locked in a hours would seem to prevent that.
Judi @ Jul 23rd 2008 8:26PM
You can copy your VHS to DVD. I am blessed that my tapes have survived since 1980, when I first got my machine. I only keep them in the cardboard box, that they came in, and I keep them on bookselves, closets, and Rubbermaid boxes. They still play. I did like Beta best, and I have Beta tapes and 8MM. I love my tapes!
Amanda @ Jul 24th 2008 11:51AM
We just had to pitch boxes full of tapes from the 80's & 90's last week.
They really were unwatchable and no amount of cleaning would help. There was a light mold all over them even though they were kept in a big rubbermaid container in our basement.
dwr50 @ Jul 24th 2008 1:47PM
Or... could it be built-in obsolescence...forcing an up-grade to CD/DVD ?? ( which will warp in exactly 20.01 years )
iain @ Jul 24th 2008 4:47PM
Just a little friendly correction Christine: the UK Guardian is a daily newspaper. The Observer is a Sunday-only paper. Although co-published and sharing a website, "the UK Guardian's Observer newspaper" is a misnomer. Although as far as truth-telling is concerned, I certainly trust both papers.
Lawrence Phoenix @ Jul 25th 2008 3:32AM
Ah Crap...I just woke up and now this.....
susan @ Jul 25th 2008 2:24PM
Lawrence,
my sentiments exactly.
S.
MJZimmer88 @ Jul 25th 2008 8:02AM
Just one more reason why it would suck to be British...
Danni @ Aug 24th 2008 3:39AM
We are Americans living and working in Taiwan, where the summers are hot and humid like living in a steam bath. I discovered after our first year here that most of the kid's VHS movies had a covering of white dust, and would not play. Luckily, we were able to convert the tapes we had recorded of our kids when they were babies and toddlers to DVD, and that was because those tapes had been wrapped and stored, and not left on bookcases like the hunded or somovie VHS tapes we had. They are all gone now, and it's a great shame that I didn't know that would happen. Live and learn, I guess.