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The good news is that you MAY be able to solve the problem using some basic household products. In fact, Windex glass cleaner can actually work well for dissolving dried ink. What’s the secret ingredient?
Ammonia.
Tough printhead clogs can usually be brought into submission by soaking the printhead in a solution of 50/50% ammonia and distilled water.
A important word of warning… ammonia is potent and powerful stuff. When working with ammonia, always make sure you’ve got adequate ventilation, and avoid mixing it with other chemicals. Very important.
So, if your printhead is located on the inkjet cartridge itself, you’ll want to soak the printhead in the 50/50 solution for an hour or two.
If the printhead unit is located inside your inkjet printer itself, then you’ll first need to remove the inkjet cartridges. After those are removed, put some of the solution into the top of the printhead (directly into the nozzle holes) and let it sit a few hours. Go ahead and put a little more into the printhead resting seat. (This is the rubber rectangle part that seals off the printhead unit while the carriage is in its resting position.)
If this initial soaking doesn’t work, then repeat another time using 100% ammonia for up to one hour. Afterward, make sure to rinse completely with distilled water.
If the clog doesn’t immediately clear, go ahead and let the printer sit overnight and try it again the next day. Sometimes the clog will breakdown slowly and release later as the ammonia takes its toll.
Finally, for those of you wondering about the effectiveness of using alcohol to unclog cartridges and printhead - here’s a quick note…
Alcohol won’t work as well as ammonia, but may work better than a few cleaning cycles. The downside is that alcohol may actually dry out the plastics and metals in the printhead. This could actually increase the chances of clogging later on down the road. So try to avoid alcohol if possible.
Eli Fry is president of ASAP Inkjets. ASAP Inkjets offers inkjet cartridges and laser toner at up to 80% below retail. Sign up for its free newsletter for tips & discount coupons at or email: subscribe@asapinkjets.com.