Last time, we looked at the crisis involving the slow disintegration of magnetic recording tape and the potential loss of the master tapes of great albums made since the late 40s. Issue number one was tapes drying out and literally flaking away.
There’s also the opposite problem: Tapes that were stored in places where the humidity is too high. That’s when mould can become a major problem. And if tapes are stored too tightly in an uncontrolled environment, they can become all gooey in a process known as “lost lubricant syndrome,” and everything sticks together.
The only known way to solve that is to soak the tapes in a special solution using deionized water for up to a month, ultrasonic cleaning, unspooling of the tape, and careful air-drying, centimetre by centimetre.
© 2026 Corus Radio, a division of Corus Entertainment Inc.
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