How to Maintain an Inkjet Cartridge

The best maintenance for an inkjet cartridge involves two elements: regular cleaning and regular use. Taking care of the usage part is easy, but the cleaning side of things can seem daunting, especially if you have never done it before. As long as you are willing to get a little ink on your fingers, cleaning the cartridge as part of your printer maintenance quickly becomes routine.

Instructions

Difficulty: Moderately Easy

Things You’ll Need:

• Inkjet cartridge
• Lint-free cleaning cloth

1. Remove the cartridge from your printer. Read the manufacturer's directions first if you haven’t done this before.
2. Place the cartridge on a clean surface. Cover your work surface with newspaper, as a small amount of ink will leak out in the cleaning process.
3. Get a fiberless or lint-free cloth, because loose fibers from the cloth will degrade print quality by clogging the ink nozzles that deliver the ink. These nozzles are only as thick as a strand of hair.
4. Wet down the cloth with vapor-distilled or de-ionized water. You can use tap water, but tap water contains trace minerals that can build up in the nozzles of the print cartridge over time.
5. Squeeze excess moisture from the cloth. You want a damp cloth, not a sopping wet one. Excess water on the cloth will seep into and damage the printer parts.
6. Wipe the print cartridge down to remove excess ink, paper fibers and dust.
7. Clear the nozzles if the cartridge has been idle for a long time. Wipe the nozzles gently until ink comes out. This part of the cleaning process mixes a tiny amount of water with the ink that is in the nozzles
8. Replace the cartridge in the printer and then print a small amount of text to purge the nozzles of the water-tainted ink.

Tips & Warnings

• Choose a soft cloth. You don’t want to scratch the print cartridge.
• Simple use is a form of maintenance. Print a single page of color copy everyday to prevent your inkjet cartridge from clogging up.
• Store your ink cartridge in an air-tight container if you don’t plan on using it for a long period of time. This keeps the ink from drying out.
• Do not use too much force when cleaning your inkjet cartridge. Easy does it.
• Do not use cleaning chemicals of any kind. Plain water works the best and does not harm your inkjet cartridge.

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