Thanks to Marie O'Connell and Corey Bailey for your suggestions. I had success with the two reels of PEM-469. I posted a short note in my blog http://richardhess.com/notes/2012/02/26/agfa-pem-469-success/ but it really points to the degrading tapes page...I've added the following to it: http://richardhess.com/notes/formats/magnetic-media/magnetic-tapes/analog-audio/degrading-tapes/ (You don't need to go to the links..the updates are below). I put Agfa tapes in their own section as they don't really belong under Classic Sticky Shed since we are not at all in agreement about baking. [added 2012-02-26] One fascinating perspective is emerging from ongoing discussions on the Association of Recorded Sound Collections email list (ARSC List): different tape types in different parts of the world may behave differently. Again, this comes down to plant-to-plant variations at least and perhaps formula and/or raw material differences. A factor that may have caused the differing formulations could be different local environmental regulations for each plant, but that is mostly conjecture on this author's part, although there were some studies from Alabama attempting to address the pollution from the Ampex/Quantegy plant in Opelika. [added 2012-02-26] The remainder of this update focuses on Agfa PEM 469, see notes below. ----- ***Agfa Tapes* (updated 2012-02-26) *Agfa PEM-526* exhibited dry shedding. See our article here <http://richardhess.com/notes/2009/01/30/back-coat-turning-to-powder/>. Although a similar condition was reported with PEM-469, experience has shown 469 to be more like sticky shed in this regard. It is definitely another variant of Soft Binder Syndrome (or SBS). *Agfa PEM-468, PEM-469* There are mixed reviews on these tapes and most of the bad tape was recalled and transferred at Agfa's expense. This was supposedly affecting only a half-year's worth of batches from pre-1990. Unike Ampex/Quantegy, we do NOT recommend baking Agfa tapes as a matter of course, based in part to our experience with the PEM-526 and this article <http://www.tomshardware.co.uk/forum/page-42797_32_0.html>, although the baking temperature may have been a bit too high (60 �C) in that discussion. The author of these pages encountered two very nasty reels of one-inch Agfa PEM 469 in 2012-02 (recorded in 1988-01) that shed a waxy clear-to-slightly-yellow exudate from the mag coat. The mag coat was also transferring slightly to the back coat which was then coming off on the capstan (which presses against the back coat side of the tape). After consultation on the ARSC List and receiving replies from Marie O'Connell in New Zealand and Corey Bailey in Los Angeles, I decided to continue with the non-baking recommendation as there was just too much conversation on the Web and ARSCList against baking to make me feel comfortable. The tape's mag coat was run over a Pellon pad in library wind and then over a D5-soaked Pellon pad, also in library wind. D5 was generously applied to the heads and fixed guides immediately before the transfer. We applied about 2.5 ml (cc) of D5 to each tape. Note D5 is also known as decamethylcyclopentasiloxane, Siloxane D5, CAS # 541-02-6, and sometimes referred to as Cyclomethicone (generally in regards to the product as produced by Dow Corning). It is found in many personal care products and has recently been declared safe for the environment by the Canadian Ministry of the Environment <http://www.cdr-siloxaned5-bor.ca/default.asp?lang=En&n=9320DEF6-0&offset=3&toc=show#s2.1>. The worse of the two tapes was stopped twice to re-clean the heads and reapply D5. It is not clear to me if the slight loss of brightness was due to reproduce or recording issues, as apparently some batches of this tape shed when originally manufactured. This tape has been reported stable in parts of Europe, but Ms. O'Connell confirmed the clear-to-yellow waxy exudate and indicated that it was one of her least favourite tapes to transfer. She reported that it did respond to her isopropyl drip technique <http://richardhess.com/notes/2006/03/09/wet-playing-of-reel-tapes-with-loss-of-lubricant-a-guest-article-by-marie-oconnell/> and Mr. Bailey suggested gentle baking (about 48 �C for 24 hours) which allowed him to have success with the tape. He also reports success with lubricants from The Last Factory here <http://www.baileyzone.net/analog%20tape%20diy.htm> (second to last section). * * -- Richard L. Hess email: [log in to unmask] Aurora, Ontario, Canada (905) 713 6733 1-877-TAPE-FIX http://www.richardhess.com/tape/contact.htm Quality tape transfers -- even from hard-to-play tapes.