Mold on tapes

Hello,

I left some VHS tapes in the basement for 20 years. Now I want to digitize them. They have developed white mold on the tape. The video has extremely poor quality.

Can I do anything to rejuvenate the tapes?

Thanks,
Eden.

First off I would not play them in anything that you dont want to muck up. Next I would look for one of those tape rewinder/cleaners. I used to have one. It had little removable pads that you could replace that wiped the tape as it was rewound. The mold is probably on the outside of the tape on the edges and on the end that was exposed. As a last resort you can take the tap apart and manualy claen it. Or cut about 1 foot off of the end. Radio shack used to sell a VHS tape splicing kit. But in a pinch you can use quality acid free Scotch tape and a razer blade.