For the most protection, you can buy plastic cases like the ones they use at your video store. But, even the paper cases that most tapes come with can keep harmful dust particles from settling on your reels. Store your tapes at room temperature. Avoid stashing your tapes in a cold, damp basement or hot, dusty attic. Extreme cold and heat are bad for the longevity of videotape.
Extreme heat can cause tapes to melt and extreme cold can make tapes brittle.
Your videotapes will last the longest if you store them in temperatures between 60 and 80 degrees Fahrenheit. 5. Transfer your footage every seven years. Over time, the tiny electronically-charged particles that fuse audio and visual information to the tape can lose their grips, causing images and sounds to fade away. This is especially true of analog video recordings. If you are storing important video on S-VHS, Hi8, VHS or standard 8mm tape, it's a good idea to spend a generation every seven years or so.