You can clean either the black ink, the color ink, or both.

If you notice that your print jobs are coming out smudged or sloppy-looking, a cleaning cycle might take care of the problem.

Once the cleaning is done, the printer will automatically go back to the home screen, ready to print.

If the printing still looks off, you may have to run another cleaning cycle or unclog the print head nozzles.

If the printing still doesn’t look right after several cleaning cycles, try printing 10 pages to see if this clears the nozzles.

You will see the print head moving back and forth when you open the printer.

The printhead is the square piece of the printer that you see moving when you open the top of the printer.

The print head doesn’t need to be all the way in the middle of the printer, just onto the paper towel.

To save the ink cartridges, wrap them in cling film.

You can also buy cleaning fluids specifically for printers online. If you can’t inject any fluid, you may have to replace your printer.

The paper towel will be full of ink. Be careful when you are removing it from the printer, and wear rubber gloves if you want to protect your hands. Once the printer is done priming the heads and running the cleaning cycle, you can print out a test document. Print a document with both color and black and white elements to be sure all of the nozzles were cleaned. Print a small image that takes up about 1/4 of the page if you don’t want to waste too much ink.

You will use water to clean the printer, so this is especially important.

For inkjet printers, the rollers might be located underneath an access panel. Open the panel under the tray. You may have to remove a toner cartridge, as well. A [12] X Research source Make sure to use a soft cloth that is damp, not wet. Do not use any cleaning fluid, as this can damage the printer parts.

Be sure to rotate the roller to clean it on all sides.

If the rollers are damaged, you may have to take the printer to a repair shop to replace them.

You can unplug the printer to make sure it is off.

Wipe gently so that you don’t damage any parts.

If the printer opens on top, you don’t need to pull anything out.

The print head for this kind of printer model is underneath the cartridges.

The tab will be either blue or green.

Use a dry, soft, clean cloth to wipe the drums.

Once everything is back in place, you can turn the printer back on.

The calibration cycle is located in a different location on every printer. Look for its exact location in your printer’s manual. Print a test page to make sure the printer is back to normal. Print a page using color and black ink to make sure all of the cartridges are working as they should be. A small image taking up 1/4 of the page should be sufficient.