Fix crinkled tape in your VHS cassette.
Although DVDs and Blu-Rays are more commonly seen in households these days, many people still watch movies or home videos on VHS cassette tapes. Home videos of your children’s school play or your granddaughter’s first birthday are irreplaceable. Sometimes, after hitting the "Eject" button on your VCR, the tape inside the cassette gets caught and unravels from the tape spool. This causes damage to your cassette, especially when the tape is creased or wrinkled. Before throwing your VHS cassette tape away, attempt to fix it with a couple of techniques.
Instructions
Rewind or Fast Forward
1. Flip back the cover at the top of the VHS cassette and hold it in place with your hand or a piece of masking tape.
2. Stick your finger into one of the spools, which usually looks like a white circle with a small, toothed hole in the middle.
3. Twist the spool so that the tape begins to pull back into the cassette. Do this until the tape begins to tighten around the spool.
4. Smooth out the wrinkles when rolling the tape back into the spool. Ensure the creased part of the tape lies flat against the spool.
5. Insert the tape back into the VCR and hit the "Rewind" or "Fast Forward" button. This will roll the tape backward or forward, putting several layers of tape over the wrinkled part.
6. Hit "Eject" to remove the cassette from the VCR and leave the cassette out for several days. Reinsert the cassette into the VCR and rewind or fast forward to the damaged area to make sure it is still playable.
Ironing
7. Flip back the cover at the top of the cassette and hold it in place with a piece of masking tape.
8. Stick a pen into the hole at the bottom of the cassette tape to release the latch on the tape reel.
9. Carefully pull out the damaged section of tape from the tape spool. Place the section on an ironing board with the backside facing up.
10. Set your iron to its coolest setting with the steam function turned off. In a back and forth motion, sweep the iron over the wrinkled area of tape to flatten it. If the iron is too cool, gradually increase the heat until you begin to see the tape flatten.
Tags: back into, your cassette, back cover, back cover cassette, cassette hold
