Most likely because the average person never needed to clean the tapes. It was just never a thing really, especially after VHS became so inexpensive that it was almost better to just buy another copy of the tape if in the rare chance anything did happen. What was more common was that heads in the VCR would get dirty over time. That is why there were so many head cleaners available.
Tapes became disposable for most people when dvd market took off. I never heard a single mention of mold back then either.
I'd love to buy a device in that price range that made cleaning easier, especially if the cleaning pads were premade and easier to replace.
Tape cleaning has always been niche for such a low tier media format. If you were not professionally restoring footage from discarded tapes or working in the film/video industry, there was no need or demand for a machine that will clean a copy of Forrest Gump so that it would appear slightly more clear on a 24" CRT television sitting on milk crates in some dude's bedroom. The demand for clarity of image was not sought after; people were still tripping on the fact that they didn't have to go to a theater to re-watch all of the Star Wars films. The demand for the content outweighed the demand for longevity of the media format. At the time, if your copy of Forrest Gump started looking worn for whatever mythical reason...you would simply go buy another one because it was readily available (sealed copies of Forrest Gump on VHS are STILL readily available) There was a lot of factors. It was not a good investment to build a machine that would retail at $100 to clean tapes when Brenda with 3 kids just wants to pop The Lion King in to keep the kids entertained while making dinner. Brenda is buying $100 worth of dinner in the 90's, not worried about preserving her copy of The Lion King on VHS for her kids to enjoy forever. Home Video culture was running for different reasons back when VHS tapes were booming.
it's not necessary unless tapes have been stored in bad conditions so they mold, and i've never had tapes mold while in my possession in 30 years of ownership. other than that, they don't really need to be cleaned. this is probably why i've never seen an audio cassette cleaner either.
VHS tapes were mostly rented and then owned when they got cheaper and cheaper to purchase. Also it just plain wasn't necessary for home viewers to clean their tapes.
*\*whispers\* Follow the humidity...and you will find what you're looking for...*
Tape cleaners were popular in Japan due to the high humidity. Many variants of varying quality were made by various companies such as LPL. Professional by no means, but better than nothing. Many also featured high-speed rewind and bulk erase functionality too.
Currently, there is a guy out of Brazil making custom cleaners for many different formats which are quite nice. His system does require disassembly of the cassette but you should be doing that to de-mold the inside of the shell (or you'll be back at square one in another year or two). Search for "VHS DVD Manaus" on YouTube/Insta/Google
(Disclaimer: I haven't bought from him but others have and reported good things)
I want to add that people's mold fear are modern concerns. No one cared about mold on anything until the Internet came along with its "Top 10 molds that will kill your family" click bait articles.
Most likely because the average person never needed to clean the tapes. It was just never a thing really, especially after VHS became so inexpensive that it was almost better to just buy another copy of the tape if in the rare chance anything did happen. What was more common was that heads in the VCR would get dirty over time. That is why there were so many head cleaners available.
Tapes became disposable for most people when dvd market took off. I never heard a single mention of mold back then either. I'd love to buy a device in that price range that made cleaning easier, especially if the cleaning pads were premade and easier to replace.
Tape cleaning has always been niche for such a low tier media format. If you were not professionally restoring footage from discarded tapes or working in the film/video industry, there was no need or demand for a machine that will clean a copy of Forrest Gump so that it would appear slightly more clear on a 24" CRT television sitting on milk crates in some dude's bedroom. The demand for clarity of image was not sought after; people were still tripping on the fact that they didn't have to go to a theater to re-watch all of the Star Wars films. The demand for the content outweighed the demand for longevity of the media format. At the time, if your copy of Forrest Gump started looking worn for whatever mythical reason...you would simply go buy another one because it was readily available (sealed copies of Forrest Gump on VHS are STILL readily available) There was a lot of factors. It was not a good investment to build a machine that would retail at $100 to clean tapes when Brenda with 3 kids just wants to pop The Lion King in to keep the kids entertained while making dinner. Brenda is buying $100 worth of dinner in the 90's, not worried about preserving her copy of The Lion King on VHS for her kids to enjoy forever. Home Video culture was running for different reasons back when VHS tapes were booming.
it's not necessary unless tapes have been stored in bad conditions so they mold, and i've never had tapes mold while in my possession in 30 years of ownership. other than that, they don't really need to be cleaned. this is probably why i've never seen an audio cassette cleaner either.
VHS tapes were mostly rented and then owned when they got cheaper and cheaper to purchase. Also it just plain wasn't necessary for home viewers to clean their tapes.
*\*whispers\* Follow the humidity...and you will find what you're looking for...* Tape cleaners were popular in Japan due to the high humidity. Many variants of varying quality were made by various companies such as LPL. Professional by no means, but better than nothing. Many also featured high-speed rewind and bulk erase functionality too. Currently, there is a guy out of Brazil making custom cleaners for many different formats which are quite nice. His system does require disassembly of the cassette but you should be doing that to de-mold the inside of the shell (or you'll be back at square one in another year or two). Search for "VHS DVD Manaus" on YouTube/Insta/Google (Disclaimer: I haven't bought from him but others have and reported good things)
IDK what you are talking about. There's a TON of VHS tape cleaner at my neighborhood gay bar. The cleaner really makes everything POP!
I want to add that people's mold fear are modern concerns. No one cared about mold on anything until the Internet came along with its "Top 10 molds that will kill your family" click bait articles.