Print head cleaning fluid, any recommendations
- Thread starter Paul-H
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Deleted member 14725
Jorge Rodriguez (printing tech) has a nice vid on this talking about Windex and another product (with a brand, I don't remember), basically you need patience and a lot of time. I've tried the same on Epson printers and had good luck using warm water (without minerals) over and over, and some alcohol, I know many will argue about the use of alcohol. And later slight pressure to help the cleaning.
I never had any good luck with Epson Durabrite or any of the variants on Epson printers.
I never had any good luck with Epson Durabrite or any of the variants on Epson printers.
- Joined
- Jan 25, 2022
- Messages
- 16
The sponge end of a blocked printer head can be cleaned with only one liquid other than water. This liquid is isopropyl alcohol. Isopropyl alcohol isn't strong enough to melt the sponge but is still strong enough to dissolve the ink inside the blocked printer head.
- Joined
- Jul 11, 2020
- Messages
- 137
For most inks (including durabrite) try:
1/2 cup Glass cleaner
1/2 cup Alcohol *
Add 1 tbsp ammonia
* Try and use high-concentration alcohols (95% if you can). Ethanol is best, but 95% isopropyl is better than 50% ethanol. If all you can get are 50% solutions, then use 3/4 cup alcohol and 1/4 cup glass cleaner.
Most inks are water-based. To make them colourfast they use chemistry tricks and use inks that are only water soluble when the water is slightly basic. Then after they print, they react with the carbon dioxide in the air, which produces carbonic acid and neutralizes the base. This makes the ink more colourfast and less soluble in water (and harder to clean).
The above recipe uses ammonia to make it slightly basic, which helps dissolve most inks. If the glass cleaner you are using has a lot of ammonia in it, you can omit adding it and just use 50/50 glass cleaner/alcohol.
1/2 cup Glass cleaner
1/2 cup Alcohol *
Add 1 tbsp ammonia
* Try and use high-concentration alcohols (95% if you can). Ethanol is best, but 95% isopropyl is better than 50% ethanol. If all you can get are 50% solutions, then use 3/4 cup alcohol and 1/4 cup glass cleaner.
Most inks are water-based. To make them colourfast they use chemistry tricks and use inks that are only water soluble when the water is slightly basic. Then after they print, they react with the carbon dioxide in the air, which produces carbonic acid and neutralizes the base. This makes the ink more colourfast and less soluble in water (and harder to clean).
The above recipe uses ammonia to make it slightly basic, which helps dissolve most inks. If the glass cleaner you are using has a lot of ammonia in it, you can omit adding it and just use 50/50 glass cleaner/alcohol.