"Unspam" wrote ...

Actually, the "chamois-like" cleaning wands were created
specifically because "cotton bud"s (or cotton swabs, or
"Q-tips", a US brand-name) are SPECIFICALLY *NOT*
RECOMMENDED for cleaning rotary heads. The reason
being that the sharp little pieces that you are trying to clean
are quite likely to snag and retain cotton fibres which will
do more harm than whatever crud you were trying to remove.

Hmmm, they worked in Abbey Road for years until they went
digital, but I give way to your superior knowledge.

They weren't using recorders with rotary heads "in Abbey Road
for years". For analog, linear machines (i.e. audio), they are just
fine. For that matter, if you are careful to inspect for stray snagged
fibres, cotton swabs are just fine for the non-moving parts of the
tape path of rotary-head machines.

But using them on rotary heads is just inviting disaster. And
many pro video users advocate avoiding them altogether just
because of the risk from stray fibres that you may not notice.