What's the Best Way to Store Old Videotapes Before They're Converted?

The number 1 enemy of videotape is moisture. Moisture on a videotape will ruin that tape in seconds. Once tape comes in contact with moisture, it will begin to deteriorate and stick to itself rending that tape useless. This leads to the first tip for storing your videotapes. Make sure your tapes are in a tight waterproof container.

The second, and arguably just a big of a threat to tape as moisture, is temperature. Tape does not like big swings in temperature. Swings in temperature can make the tape brittle and accelerate the aging process of the tape. Plus, big temperature swings can cause condensation which leads us back to moisture.

After keeping your tapes in a waterproof container in a relatively temperature stable environment, the last piece is luck. Videotape is incredibly unpredictable when it comes to wear. Our Memories in Motion has seen tape that's 40 years old look better than a tape that's 25 years old when both were stored in the same environment. This is why it's so important to get your videotapes transferred now so you don't lose all those precious memories.

Here at Our Memories in Motion we inspect every tape before it's converted to make sure there's no immediate signs of damage to that tape. This ensures your tape will not break while transferring and our machines will not be damaged as well.

To begin your videotape transfer journey, contact us today!