Epson Print Head Cleaning Cartridges and Cleaning Solution Kit
(scroll down to bottom of page for 'Cleaning Solution Kit')
Prolong the life of the print head in your Epson printer with 'regular' cleaning!
If your printer won't print 'right' and you KNOW you've got working cartridges... your print head is clogged (or getting that way). You can easily fix that!
Signs of a 'clogged' print head:
White lines occur when printing documents or pictures.
Indistinctness or broken lines occur in the nozzle check pattern.
Ink just doesn't come out during printing.
Printer is used again after a long period of non-use.
Having to perform a 'printhead cleaning cycle' more often than the usual one or two times!
Example of partially clogged print head:
How does this happen?
Epson printers have a high printing resolution (D.P.I. - dots per inch), this means that the printhead nozzles have to be manufactured much smaller than some of the other printer manufacturers' nozzles. The size of the actual nozzle hole is much smaller than the human hair and it does not take very much for them to clog. Epson Printers are prone to having ink dry in the printhead nozzles causing streaking and void areas and over time, rendering the printer useless. Just running the cleaning cycle is NOT enough!
Other common causes for head clogging are from infrequent use and not turning your printer off properly between uses (see our Epson printer tips page).
To help prevent that and restore clogged nozzles, use our cleaning cartridges or our Printhead Cleaning Solution Kit... it's a Much Cheaper alternative! Having it cleaned by a 'repair tech' typically costs $45+! You can clean it yourself!
All cleaning cartridges are not the same! Each cleaning cartridge and our Cleaning Solution used in the kit contains:
A Glycol based cleanser which rehydrates dried and clogged ink particles
A Cleaner solution that acts as a detergent, soaking the ink clogs away
Distilled Water. This is important as standard water contains minerals that can stick to the print channels and nozzles causing build-up and back-up.
Note: Even if your printer has no output at all (completely clogged print head), most can be "brought back" using our Printhead Cleaning Solution Kit. It's located near the bottom of this page. It can be used on all Epson printer models (except C80/82), it's just manually applied. You can view the simple instructions here (opens new window). This is NOT alcohol or Windex, it is an ink-specific solvent that has proven to be safe and effective for use on Epson printheads. DO NOT use alcohol or Windex as they can and will ruin your printer.
Instructions for use are included with each cleaning cartridge.
*Note you can also find these cleaning cartridges listed along with our high quality Epson compatible ink cartridges.
If you can't find a cleaning cartridge for your printer model below, our Printhead Cleaning Solution Kit at the bottom of this page can be used. It covers all Epson printer models except the C80/82. It is just manually applied and there is no printer disassembly required.
* These are 'multi-use' cartridges (can be reused 3-4 times)!
The C80 and C82 cleaning cartrtidges are multi-use but you must put a piece of sticky-tape (scotch tape) over the outlet hole when finished with each use (remove before next use). Store in a sealed plastic baggie.