CPSC, RadioShack Announce Recall of Video Head Cleaner
Home product recall 05-169. Announced by CPSC on May 11, 2005.
Watch and the shortlist are kept with a free account, on every device. Your watch list. CPSC’s own notice is on cpsc.gov.
The short answer
Announced by CPSC on May 11, 2005. Copied from CPSC on Oct 19, 2026.
Every line below is in CPSC’s own words, with its source beside it.
What’s wrong with it?
The cleaning solution bottle, which is labeled as containing isopropanol, actually contains methanol. Methanol can be fatal or cause blindness if swallowed. It is much more toxic than isopropanol. Also, the cleaning solution bottle does not have special cautionary labeling and child-resistant packaging, as required by Federal regulation for methanol.
CPSC, Recalls API. Checked Oct 19, 2026. Updated daily.
What should you do?
Consumers should immediately place this product out of reach of children and return the product to the nearest RadioShack store for a refund, or dispose of the bottle of cleaning fluid in accordance with all state and local requirements.
CPSC, Recalls API. Checked Oct 19, 2026. Updated daily.
- How to reach the firm: Call RadioShack at (800) 843-7422 anytime, or go to the firm’s Web sites at www.radioshack.com and www.radioshackcorporation.com
Which ones are recalled?
The recalled non-abrasive “Wet System” Video Head Cleaner was sold in a box labeled “Video Head Cleaner,” “RadioShack” and “44-1230” or “44-1213.” The box contains a cleaning video cassette and a bottle of cleaning solution. The 4-inch-high white plastic cleaning solution bottle is labeled “Video Head Cleaning Fluid” or “Cleaning Liquid for HEAD CLEANER.” Other writing on the bottle includes “Contents: Isopropanol,” and the item number “44-1230” or “44-1213.”
About 1 million units, as CPSC gives them.
Wet System Video Head Cleaner.
CPSC, Recalls API. Checked Oct 19, 2026. Updated daily.
CPSC’s photos
CPSC shows 2 photos on its notice. Hearth Record doesn’t copy them; each opens on cpsc.gov.
Who made and sold it?
- Imported by RadioShack Corp., Fort Worth, Texas.
- RadioShack stores nationwide and www.radioshack.com, from December 1995 through January 2005, for about $13.
- Made in China, as the notice gives it.
CPSC, Recalls API. Checked Oct 19, 2026. Updated daily.
Was anyone hurt?
RadioShack has received 39 reports from their poison center of children accessing this product. No injuries or illnesses have been reported.
CPSC, Recalls API. Checked Oct 19, 2026. Updated daily.
What the record doesn’t say
- The notice lists no UPCs, so check the model, the description and the photos.
- The notice lists no model numbers in a field of their own; its description may give them.
- How many have been returned or fixed isn’t in the notice.
Hearth Record wrote these lines.
Sources
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U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission, Recalls API.
Checked Oct 19, 2026. Updated daily. Public domain (U.S. Government work). CPSC asks to be credited, and that no endorsement be implied.
Recalls of kids’ and home products are from the U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission (CPSC). CPSC does not endorse Hearth Record. Copied on Oct 19, 2026.