When to lube reel to reel tapes

The oxide on tape does deteriorate, but never add a lubricant. This is why it’s a good idea to transfer a precious old tape to digital, or make a safety copy (I realise most homes don't have two decks).

Studios will align the the heads, adjust azimuth according to the tape stock used for the recording, no lubrication.

Only those involved in tape restoration and preservation should be doing any type of treatment.

If the tapes are not shedding or sticking they should be ok, otherwise too much effort with little return to make them playable again.

Yes some resources in application. But no idea how I would go about doing it myself. Agree with folks here. V helpful. Obv a baking process that can remedy sticky tapes. 
 

appreciate the guide. Will let you know how houses of the holy sounds! 

I had to run vintage 2" audio and quad video tapes for archiving to digital formats. I would play a tape and take notes of problem areas, there was always some dust coming off the tightly wound reels. It’s possible it was the tape shedding. Typical problems included dropouts where picture or sound was missing (physical damage to tape), creases in tape which sometimes could be straightened out without damage, and buckled tape where the tape overlaps during rewind or fast forward. This was fixed by rotating the reels by hand until the tape flattened out. These sections of tape usually had permanent damage exposed during playback.