Dirt, dust and other microparticles constantly circulate around us. These particles are in the air we breathe so it's easy to understand how they can settle inside your tape drive as well. If there is debris between the drive's read/write heads and their contact with the tape, permanent data loss can result - or even damage to the read/write heads themselves.??Some cleaning systems use liquid chemicals that are messy and hard to work with. Imation's Dry Head Cleaning Products use a process that is totally dry, eliminating the application of messy (and possibly hazardous) chemicals. In addition, dry head cleaning is virtually hassle-free. All you do is insert the Imation Dry Head Cleaning Cartridge into your drive. The cleaning process itself is automatic and total cleaning time is as fast as twenty seconds versus five minutes for wet-type cleaners. When the process is finished, simply rewind the tape and mark the date in the space provided.