VHS tapes that have been damaged (or “eaten”) by VCRs can usually be repaired inexpensively and easily by a professional video production company. If the tape inside the video is broken, the video tape is jammed or the plastic shell of the video tape is cracked, having your VHS tape repaired shouldn’t be a problem.
In some cases, VHS tapes that have been damaged by other means (such as dirt, grease, excessive heat, liquid, dust, mold and puppy teeth) can also be repaired. If the VHS tapes do have some kind of foreign substance on them, they should always be taken for repairs or transferring before attempting to play them in a VCR, as these foreign substances can cause serious and irreparable damage to your machine.
Even if you think your video footage is lost for good, a good video production company will often have a technician on staff who can pull as much as they can from the damaged tape, so don’t throw out that VHS tape until you visit a video production company for repairs.
Consider transferring your VHS tapes to DVD
Did you know that VHS tapes can degrade from continuous use, as well as over time even if they are in storage and have not been played? Even a VHS tape that has been repaired only has a moderately short shelf life. The older the tape, the more risk you take each time you play a VHS tape of potentially losing that footage forever. If you have wedding videos, holiday videos, vacation videos or other special memories that you’ve committed to VHS tape, consider having your VHS tapes transferred over to DVD to ensure those moments last a lifetime.