How to Preserve Home Videos

By favefive, eHow Member Rating

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Home videos have come a long way, from VHS to DVD and anything in between; a lot of memories have been captured and watched over and over again. It is important to take care of the home videos so that they can be enjoyed in the years to come. Here are some ways that can help prolong the lives of your home videos.

Difficulty: Moderate

Instructions

Step 1

Put in a Case or Cover: Put your home video in its own case. There are VHS and DVD cases that are sold in department stores. Make sure to label each one so that they can be found easily. Label not only the VHS or DVD case but label the VHS and DVD themselves so that in case they get switched you can still easily identify them. You may also opt to seal your videos in plastic bags for protection from dusts, smoke and moisture.
Step 2

Storage: It is very important in prolonging your home videos' life span to have a place to store them. Oftentimes people tend to leave videos in places around the house that are not safe. Remember that home videos are fragile and should be put in a place where they will not be damaged easily.

There are storage towers for VHS and DVD that are sold in stores. Buy the ones that are sturdy and can offer protection. Some people buy entertainment centers with racks to be used to store VHS tapes and DVDs, sometimes this may not be a good option for storing your home videos due to the heat and electromagnetic fields coming from speakers and the television sets that can ruin your videos.

For rare videos and important videos, you may want to invest in a fire-proof safe to protect them from fire.
Step 3

Temperature and Humidity: Ensure that proper room temperature is maintained in the place where you are storing your home videos. Maintain the temperature range between 59 to 77 degrees. The relative humidity should be kept at 40 to 60%. So think twice before you start storing your home videos in your garage and attic spaces.
Step 4

Rewind: Before storing your tapes, rewind them end to end in one swoop using a high quality rewinder. Avoid skipping or stopping when rewinding, this will cause damage to the tape. Store the VHS tapes in vertical position with the tape wound into the bottom spool.
Step 5

Make Copies and Re-copy Often: Make copies of your VHS and DVD and store the originals in a fire-proof safe. Use a high quality DVD and VHS recorder or burner. The average life span of a VHS is about 15 years, for DVDs it is approximately 10 years. To prevent damage or losing your home videos, make it a point to re-copy them in high quality VHS tapes every 10 to 12 years and every 7 to 8 years for DVDs. Buy high quality VHS and DVD, they may cost more in the beginning but will last longer than cheaper ones.
Step 6

Do Periodic Checks: VHS tapes should be fast forwarded and rewound at least once every 3 years to keep the polyurethane binder from sticking. Furthermore, adhesions may arise that can prevent the tape from running or may cause the tape to stick or gum up, thus destroying the tape and even the VCR.
Step 7

Clean Player Heads: You can purchase VHS and DVD head cleaners to clean the player heads to prevent any damage to the videos.
Step 8

Don't leave VHS and DVD inside the players. After each viewing, stow them away.
Step 9

Keep videos out of reach of children and pets. Oftentimes we hear horror stories of VHS tapes pulled apart by toddlers or ripped off by pets.
Step 10

Make a list or record of all your home videos and keep them updated whenever new home videos are added. Put a column for title, date, and then add columns for the regular check dates and when a re-copy is due. Keeping your records organized will ensure that you keep track of all your home videos.