cjacek
Analogue Enthusiast
Hi,
I got several prerecorded tapes on 5" and 3" reels, which came with a SONY portable deck, looks like home recorded family stuff from the 60 - 70's.. Some back-coated tapes in there and some not but that's not really important here... I am aware of sticky shed, various ways to deal with it etc... but I wanted to play these tapes maybe once (just curious what's on them) but they are somewhat dirty, looking for a simple - quick way to clean these and I don't want to run the tape on a cleaned transport... So my question is, is it alright to forward/rewind the tape (direct rewind/forward from reel to reel - not threading through head transport) with some 99% alcohol dampened cloth or make up cotton remover pads to clean some of the debris off those tapes before playing them? Will it dry the tape out too much or otherwise harm it? Thanks in advance for any advice.
I got several prerecorded tapes on 5" and 3" reels, which came with a SONY portable deck, looks like home recorded family stuff from the 60 - 70's.. Some back-coated tapes in there and some not but that's not really important here... I am aware of sticky shed, various ways to deal with it etc... but I wanted to play these tapes maybe once (just curious what's on them) but they are somewhat dirty, looking for a simple - quick way to clean these and I don't want to run the tape on a cleaned transport... So my question is, is it alright to forward/rewind the tape (direct rewind/forward from reel to reel - not threading through head transport) with some 99% alcohol dampened cloth or make up cotton remover pads to clean some of the debris off those tapes before playing them? Will it dry the tape out too much or otherwise harm it? Thanks in advance for any advice.