Cleaning Tips For An Inkjet Printer

Nearly every printer has a built-in program for cleaning. You may find it in one of a couple of ways. First, check the settings on the printer itself. Often if you scroll through the menu, you will find the cleaning application. If that doesn’t work, click the printer icon in the control panel of your computer. Choose printer properties and you should find the printers cleaning program there. If those two methods don’t help, check the owner’s manual or do a search online for your printer model. Depending on the printer model you have, you should do a nozzle check, a head cleaning, and a print head alignment. 

After using the printers cleaning system, you should eliminate any issues you had with print quality. However, if the problem persists, you can try the following steps in order to improve print quality and save on printer ink while testing. As always, we recommend checking the manufacturers manual or website before undertaking the task of cleaning but these steps work successfully on many printers. 

You will need a pair of rubber gloves, some isopropyl alcohol, a multipurpose surface cleaner, a lint-free towel and a can of compressed air cleaner for electronics. Follow these steps:

1. Turn the printer off and unplug it. 
2. Remove the printer cartridges from the printer. Be careful to avoid touching the metal on any cartridges and keep your hands from the openings where the ink is discharged to avoid contamination or damage.  
3. If your cartridge has the ink and a print head together, use a paper towel with alcohol on it to wipe the bottom of the cartridge and clean the print head. If they are two separate units, just clean the print head. 
4. Once you’re done with the cartridges, using a lint-free towel and multipurpose cleaner clean your feed roller.  
5. Using canned air, blow out any dust or debris inside the printer. Be careful to avoid any of the printer’s most delicate parts. 
6. Reassemble your printer and plug it back in. Using a lint free towel wipe alcohol on the middle of a sheet of standard paper making it damp, but not wet. Don’t worry about getting to the edges of the paper as you only want the middle of the page to be damp. Run this sheet of paper through a blank print cycle a few times to clean any remaining ink from the printer. 

Cleaning and maintenance will help keep your printer working in tip top shape for years. If you have any questions or concerns as you are cleaning your printer, be sure to check your printed owner’s manual or go online for specifics on cleaning your specific printer model.