Never, ever use cotton swabs, including the Q-Tip brand. Use either foam, chamois or sensor swabs. Heads have, well, heads! The cotton can snag on it, and either pull/damage the heads, or leave cotton fibers behind.
And be gentle! Again, heads have heads -- it's not a smooth surface.
Unless you have good reason to do so, cleaning heads is overdone and not suggested. It's the analog version of cleaning DSLR sensors. Unless you notice an issue that is 100% proven to be heads related (or sensor related), as proven by a thorough process of elimination, leave it alone. It ain't broke, so don't fix it!
The goes for VHS, S-VHS, Betamax, etc -- not just U-matic.
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