Here is something that can be VERY difficult to find nowadays!
Although we used to clean our 2 & 4 cassette machines manually, these cleaning tapes were also often used by professionals and consumers alike
Many enthusiasts or archivists still use cassette machines to "pull off" that old audio recording which may only be on cassette tape
SPECIAL NOTES:
This is a "limited use" dry cassette tape head cleaner.
This means there are no liquids used, the cleaning is undertaken by a specially made tape rubbing across the tape head face(s)
It provides a safe, "quick n' easy" head maintenance solution but should only be considered as part of a maintenance routine for your beloved cassette machine.
Scotch were a very respected name in both the professional and consumer arena's (Scotch parent company is 3M USA) - their products can be trusted!
Three main areas need to be attended to when using a cassette machine regularly:
Head maintenance (cleaning & demagnetising)
Pinch Roller(s) cleaning
Every 40 hours of use (or whenever you can hear something isn't right e.g loss of high end or even tape transport movement) the above basic maintenance should be undertaken.
This Scotch head cleaner only looks after the face of the heads - the tape material is intended to gently run across the head face and remove oxide/dirt build up.
The tape does nothing for the cleaning of the pinch roller(s) or head demagnetising, it will ONLY clean the heads.
These tapes are intended to be inserted using Side A ONLY and the number of cleans is limited to approximately 24 times or about 480 hours of continuous cassette machine use (based on cleaning every 40 hours x 24 times)
Scotch Cassette Head Cleaner
S-C-HC
Made In USA
Number of cleaning "runs" to date: 0 (unused)
Recommended number of cleaning "runs": 24
Old stock but in "as new" condition
We had this cleaning cassette on hand "just in case" a quick head cleaning was required but we usually would maintain and clean our cassette tape machines (Tascam's) manually using soft tipped wands with cleaning fluid but that is quite a fiddly process so these cleaning tapes can be useful when you notice that the "high end" seems to be dropping off a bit (don't forget that magnetised heads can cause this as well).
The card slip has a area inside so you can record the number of uses of this tape, of course it is currently blank as it was never used.
Cleaning procedure:
Insert this cassette tape into the machine.
Rewind to the beginning if previously used.
Play the tape (note: there is no music while you wait!) until the tape reaches the end of travel.
Remove the cleaning tape and make a test playback using another tape.
If you feel it could be improved further, repeat the above process.
Record the fact you have used the cleaning tape on the inside of the front card.
Since checking this cleaning tape I have now sealed it in plastic to protect from dust/dirt.
