After working with music videos on VHS, I learned that unless you want an embarrassing moment of silence as you try to pry the tape out of the machine, you better take care of your tapes.  Of course this goes for all those precious home movies too.

If you want to keep your movies for years to come from looking fuzzy, jamming your player or blanking out all together, there are some easy steps you can take:

1. Always rewind.  Rewinding keeps the tape tight and you won't get the tell-tale sag where the sound and picture freak out in the middle of the movie.

2. Always store the movie away from sunlight and heat.  VHS tape is very tender and will shrink in heat or sunlight.  That means no keeping movies in the attic or on top of your surround sound amplifier!  This holds for ANY movies.

3.  Always store in a cool dry place.  Video tape can actually collect mold and mildew....yuk!

4.  Always store vertically.  Keeping videos on their end (like books in a book case) helps keep the tape flat....hence no sagging. (We hate that sag!)

5.  Always put the tape back in the case after use.  Keeping the tapes in their original cardboard or pvc clamshells helps keep them free from dust and dirt.  Dusty tapes put in players will transfer gunk onto the heads of  the player and will wear or scratch the tape (not to mention wear out the video player head).

6.  ALWAYS keep all tapes away from magnets AND speakers.  This includes those mid-range channel speakers sitting on top of your TV.  Speakers contain magnetic properties and can damage or even erase VHS tapes.

7.  Always keep hands off the naked tape.  No, I'm not talking about those porno tapes your brother keeps under his bed, but the tape that is behind that little door on the cassette itself.  There is a reason that door is there....to keep our fingers off of it!  It's tempting...you open the little door and there is a shiny untouched tape....NO....DON'T DO IT!  Just leave that experience alone.  You might mess up the only existing tape of your ex getting re-married........oh wait, well,....go ahead....you can touch that one!  In fact, just sit it horizontal, out of it's case, on that speaker that is by the heater, that gets splashed-on from the fish bowl ....for just a little while.....like ....3 or 4 weeks....tee-hee!

Anyway....VHS tapes can last a long time with a little care and they are much more kid friendly than DVDs which can be scratched or stepped upon and broken by little movie watchers.  So don't forget to look for those great buys on eBay...

Have fun!