How to clean the inside of your printer

It’s a well know fact that if you take good care of your printer it will last longer. Nothing will keep your printer running forever; but by following our simple cleaning tips below you can ensure it lasts as long as it’s supposed to.

The inside of your printer gets dirty thanks to all the ink, dust, lint and pet hair floating around. You should try to give your printer a good clean every couple of months. It’s not difficult, all you need are some clean clothes, a few minutes and a step by step guide which shows you which parts need to be cleaned and how!

Cleaning an inkjet printer

Before you begin cleaning your printer, make sure it is unplugged from the mains!

Firstly, wipe any ink marks or blobs from the outside casing of the printer with a clean slightly damp cloth and a small amount of alcohol or purpose made cleaning fluid. When you have finished doing this wipe the outside casing dry.

Now open the lid on the printer, you can clean the inside of the printer using a can of compressed air. Never use a vacuum cleaner to clean the inside of the printer, this could cause permanent damage.

Finally, using a soft cotton cloth, you may also clean the ink cartridges. Gently rub the circuitry and the print head of the cartridge with a damp cloth or a cloth soaked in some alcohol, carefully dry the cartridges down and then re-insert them back into the printer.

Cleaning a laser printer

Before you begin cleaning your printer, make sure it is unplugged from the mains!

Remove the toner cartridge from the printer.

A toner vacuum will help to clean the inner parts of the laser printer. These can cost as much as £200 but can be much better for cleaning the inner machine when compared to regular vacuum cleaner.

For cleaning the actual toner cartridge you should use a special toner cleaning cloth. A toner cloth should be used when dusting off the laser toner cartridge from toner particles. The toner cartridge takes charge of cleaning particles that the toner vacuum may leave behind.

Remove any crevices from the toner and vacuum areas where needed.

Never clean the corona wire (this is a thin wire that can be seen hanging inside your printer) with a vacuum or brush as this will cause damage. Instead, use a cotton swab dipped in alcohol when cleaning the corona wire and be very gentle.

You can now insert the toner cartridge back in to the printer, do a test print to make sure everything is in working order!

Each printer type requires different cleaning tips. Make sure you know what your printer requires to avoid any trouble while undertaking the procedure. Check your printer manual as some special cleaning tips are provided in there as well.