BAVC first became aware of using tape cleaning machines through an article in its newsletter Video Networks. In 1985, Sharon Grace of the San Francisco Art Institute reported using a machine manufactured by Recortec to clean and transfer 1/2"1/2" open reel tapes. The Grace article appears on the Video History Web at Preservation- Texts. Also, Lowell Moulton, a Sony engineer and BAVC Board member, had provided BAVC with a copy of a 1982 NASA publication, Magnetic Tape Recording for the Eighties (Reference Publication 1075). It described the design elements of various tape cleaning machines. The cleaning machines had been developed primarily as a tool for maintaining data tapes, a prevalent data storage medium at the time.
 

We decided to use a Recortec machine for several reasons. Recortec had a proven track record of cleaning data and videotapes in a variety of environments, and the machine was documented in the NASA publication. The machine method was comparatively fast and the tape transports were designed for careful tape handling. Also, Recortec was located l fewer than sixty miles from BAVC in San Jose, CA.