BANK CLEANING TAPE Type 2, with solvent, (reel of 130m)

Often known as “bootlace”, this is another classic product still in demand for cleaning jack plugs and sockets. It is a woven cleaning tape, available in a “natural” version for “gentle” contact cleaning, or impregnated with a chemical solvent for more intensive oxidation and corrosion removal. Why the name “Bank Cleaning Tape” ? It was originally designed for cleaning contact banks (“banks” = “arrays”) in Strowger telephone exchanges and “Uniselector” rotary routing switches as used by some broadcasters. The tape was threaded through the switch contacts and drawn across them to remove dirt and oxides, or wrapped around 316 (B-gauge) plugs to clean them (a sort of electro-mechanical equivalent of dental floss!).

Bank Cleaning Tape is a flattened tube of fine-woven fabric, 6mm wide (just like a bootlace). “Type 1” is in the natural form. “Type 2” is impregnated with a chemical solvent that dissolves the oxides and other corrosion products on brass and most other contact surfaces, leaving them with a clean and with good electrical continuity when mated. Available on full reels of 130 metres, or as packs of five 1 metre lengths each individually packed in a sealed sachet.