What is the lifespan of a videotape?
Video tapes are made from polyester strips with a ‘glue’ holding magnetized iron oxide particles. Those particles are what hold your memories. Tape-head friction removes some of those particles (memories) during every viewing. Natural chemical processes are continually destroying the ‘glue’ your tape causing more particles (memories) to fall off even while it sits on a shelf. High humidity, magnetic fields (such as those from televisions, audio speakers, etc.), and environments in which dust may be deposited on the tapes can also compromise the quality of images from videotape. At most, a VHS tape may last 15 years but it could be as short as 5 years.
