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A PERMANENT SOLUTION TO STICKY SHED SYNDROME

64.12.117.12

I'm reposting this as its own topic (it was originally in an update to my other thread regarding my tapes that were damaged by ziplock storage) because I think it is an important breakthrough in tape restoration necessitated by "Sticky Shed Syndrome." As I addressed elsewhere, I discovered that a box of tapes I have had in storage for a few years were consumed with mold growth from sitting in a moist/wet/damp/fungus-infested cardboard box in an outside un-climate controlled storage shed in the swamps of South Louisiana. Ziplock bags and silica gel didn't stop the rot. Some of the tapes are not fixable, but some that I was ABSOLUTELY SURE would be the LAST likely to survive have indeed been some of the LEAST problematic, and a true testament to a tape restoration project's effectiveness and longevity that I ingloriously performed 14 years ago...

Here's the most amazing discovery: as many know, Sony ULH tape is one of the worst for not only sticky shed but also the backcoating "oozing" and making the tape stick together. One of the worst examples of sticky shed EVER. Well, back around 1993, before sticky shed was widely known, I had a case of 10 of these tapes that wouldn't play. I cleaned and cleaned, and NOTHING would fix them. Well, I was professionally refinishing guitars/basses at the time, and one of the most amazing polishes I've ever used for getting rid of tiny hairline scratch and haze was NuFinish (in the orange bottle). This stuff never ceased to amaze me in a painting environment, and one of the qualities NuFinish has is that is amazing at removing "gum" and old adhesive tape residue; say, from an old bumper sticker. Just a tiny bit of NuFinish, and you can polish away nearly any old gummy residue. Works AMAZING for that. I figured the Sony tapes were ruined, so why not try to "NuFinish" the gumminess away? I used a broken Pioneer RT-707 with the face removed for its high torque motors, and literally soaked a terry cloth rag and the tape itself with copious amounts of NuFinish; so much so that it was oozing through the layers of tape. I soaked it several times, passing the tape over my sloppy wet rag held with my fingers. You can't imagine the mess...and you would NEVER think that the tape would play well again! After I had a reel of sloppy wet dripping NuFinish engulfed tape, I then did the same procedure but with a dry terry cloth towel, and proceeded to "polish" the NuFinish off the tape, as you would when applying it as a car polish, thus removing the goo as well as all contaminants (dust, fingerprints, etc.). I passed the tape countless times, and after several (and I mean several) passes with a new rag each time I polished off all traces of the NuFinish AND the tape goo. You know what??? IT WORKED!!! The worst of the worst tapes played FLAWLESSLY, with NO sound degradation (I'm sure some information had to be lost, but I couldn't hear any difference) and NO drop outs! You have to be VERY careful as one screw-up and you can easily bend or crease the tape. But, the tapes sounded like the day I recorded them, and after a TON of work, they left NO sign of oxide/binder breakdown of ANY kind on the transport! OK, that was 14 years ago...

I haven't played any of these tapes in years. Some of them were in this moldy box. I figured, "There's no WAY these will play." Well, guess what. THESE TAPES PERFORMED FLAWLESSLY! They had NO mold growth (thanks to the clear plastic type Sony box covering) and exhibited NO sticky shed whatsoever! Remember, this was after YEARS in outdoor moldy/muggy/moist/wet/damp storage, surrounded by tapes covered in mold. Also, remember that 14 years ago these tapes oozed and shed so much that they wouldn't last 15 seconds on a machine. NUFINISH FIXED THESE TAPES PERMANENTLY! This MAY be an alternative to baking a tape...especially since baking is a temporary fix. Concerns? Well, NuFinish is petroleum based and contains silicone (apparently a good thing). But, although it seems this would be harmful to tape in the long-term (the petroleum aspect) these tapes EVEN AFTER being subjected to the WORST conditions imaginable had NO sticky shed! This WORKS. I hope this may work for someone else who wants a "permanent" fix for a tape.

BTW...I've read where someone did a similar thing using alcohol. But, any time I've gotten any alcohol residue on a tape by accident (even 91%) it has caused drop-outs. You would HAVE to remove any deposit/residue from any tape that you clean with alcohol. I can't think of anything better to clean any sort of residue off of a tape than NuFinish. This stuff works wonders for this. If it hadn't worked nearly 15 years later (i.e., no long term damage to the tape from NuFinish application 14 years ago) then I wouldn't recommend using it now. But I can say with certainty that it DID work on this worst-case scenario.


Hope this helps!
Jeff Koon


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Topic - A PERMANENT SOLUTION TO STICKY SHED SYNDROME - ggoat!!! 12:43:08 05/02/07 (24)

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