Printer Cleaning Kit for Epson Printers - 5oz | Easy to use kit to Clear Printer nozzles | Artisan Photo Workforce WF Ecotank ET

This product is fantastic more so for the syringe and tubing, and the blotting paper. All four of my printhead nozzles were badly clogged on my Epson WF-3540. After about 5 cleaning cycles they still wouldn't print. Totally clogged by dried ink. I found on YouTube how to mix windex and alcohol, place some kind of tubing that fits over each print nozzle that has a tight seal over them, use a dropper to put the solution in and let it sit there until it starts to soften the ink and move through the nozzle. I had to use straws because I had nothing else to make a tight fit around it. Three days later, the solution didn't budge in three of the straws, but was 1/2 way down on the fourth. That's when I knew the concept was correct, but that method wasn't going to work without a syringe creating pressure to push the liquid through and force the dry ink out.This product, Printhead Cleaner for Epson, was the same concept but with the proper tools. I had my nozzles clear in under 20 minutes, not three days! Afterwards it took 3 complete cleaning cycles to get it to print perfect and clear after putting the ink back in, so DON'T forget to do that. And cut the blotting paper into 1 - 1 1/4 " strips so that it will last for the entire process. This blotting paper is so superior than paper towels even if folded three times. I placed a paper towel strip folded once the same size as the blotting strip under the blotting strip. That way, anything that seeped through the blot paper can be caught by the paper towel. Don't use just paper towels. With as much as you have to do to free a clogged nozzle, it will seep through the paper towel significantly and flood below in areas you won't want to have wet, or have to wait for the "puddle" to dry. Blotting paper protects that. You can flatten the end of the blotting paper and paper towel at the edge of the printhead and push it over them. It may take a few tries to get it started, then pull it from the other side to center it, and move the printhead back to the right just over the beginning of the blotting paper. This is because as you work with a nozzle and move to the next, you'll want to move the printhead to the left a bit to so you have a non-saturated spot on the blotting paper. Check often, because it can get saturated very fast. I replaced my strips of blotting paper and paper towel 6 times throughout the entire process because that is how clogged my nozzles were. It took some time to push the liquid through, back and forth with the syringe to create pressure but pull the solution back out and push in again. Push in and out only about 1mm at a time for each nozzle. Then, after doing all the ones clogged, go back and do them again until the solution doesn't pull back into the tubing with much color.The instructions included in the kit are fantastic. I could have used my windex solution, but I opted to use theirs as directed. Once I thought all nozzles were clear, I went ahead and did a clean flush with my windex solution, which was easy and almost ink free.I didn't use the gloves, but you will want to if you are bothered by mild ink stains on tips of fingers that don't wash off the first time with soap.I can't wait to try this on a second hand Epson printer my son bought for himself, and never printed even after about 8 printhead cleanings. Now I am certain I know why. Saved us a lot of money, on ink too since I have several new cartridges yet for this printer and didn't want to have to buy more for a new printer.

Two weeks ago, I bought a CISS from that well-known auction site that was prefilled with what the listing said was "sublimation ink." It turned out to be pigment dye ink. So now my printheads had residue ink from OEM epson claria ink and an unknown, possibly generic pigment dye. Putting the wrong type of ink into a printer and mixing inks is like putting regular gasoline into an 18-wheeler. It will need to be completely flushed out.I used the solution but not the direct injection method. Epson printheads tend to have a varying degree of sensitivity. Too much pressure through the printhead nozzles can destroy the interior seals in the printhead. Best thing to do is allow the printheads to clean themselves with the standard pressure it uses to print.I bought a set of empty 15 dollar cartridges along with this cleaner and filled them each with 8ml of the cleaning solution and 2ml of microwaved hot (CLEAN FILTERED) water. Some people like to put a few drops of black ink in the mixture but that is counter-productive to this method. Set your printer up to replace the ink cartridges. Once the cartridge cradle is in position, unplug your printer. Now make sure you have removed the airflow stickers from the cartridges that you are about to install. Place each cartridge in the cradle until they are secured and plug your printer in. It will now go into the long stage priming sequence. Some printers take a couple minutes, some take 5-10 but whatever the case, let it do it's thing.After the priming process, run a printhead-cleaning sequence. Be careful on running too many printhead-cleanings, that could re-clog or even ruin your printheads. Now wait about 7 or 8 hours and prime the system again (set printer to replace ink cartridges, wait for the cradle to get in position, un-plug the printer and remove each cartridge for about 5 seconds and replace, plug in printer and allow to prime.) Wait another 8 hours or so (doesn't have to be exact) and perform a printhead nozzle cleaning. After this second cleaning, you will perform a 3rd and final cartridge priming sequence.This time when you remove the cartridges, make sure to check them for cleaning solution. My black cartridge was at about 60%. Yellow, magenta, and light magenta were at about 10%. Cyan and light cyan were at about 30%. What this tells me is that the black nozzle was blocked up and my cyan nozzles were also dirty. Fill the cartridges with pure solution (they don't have to be full, I used 5ml in each cartridge with no water) and place them in the cradle, secure them, and plug your printer back in.Get the most color rich image you can find (Andy Warhol artwork is perfect for this) and make sure your printer settings are set on the best photo printing settings. Print copies of the image until the paper comes out almost blank (took 4 copies for my Epson 1400.) Now set your printer up to replace your ink cartridges. No need to un-plug this time, simply wait for the cradle to get into position, remove your cleaning cartridges, place your standard ink cartridges in the cradle and allow your printer to prime. You should have clear prints now. If not, try going through the process again and if the printhead pattern is still missing the same amount of areas, you probably need a new printer.Now this cleaning solution is top-notch. No funny color or smells, no gimmicky branding name for some windex and isopropyl alcohol mixture. If you plan on using the cleaning cartridges method, I recommend a clear, thin, and powerful solution such as this one.

The black ink on my Epson 3640 stopped printing altogether. I tried multiple self-cleaning cycles, and put a cloth with Windex under the printhead, none of it worked. I bought this kit and did the overnight cleaning method. Still didn't work--I could try to print a square of black and got nothing. Ran it multiple times with the idea that I just needed to get the ink flowing, like in a fountain pen. Nothing.Determined not to see the printer end up in landfill, I came up with one last idea, using the equipment in this kit, and I'm posting it here, even though I don't usually write reviews, because it worked! I set up the printer as instructed for cleaning, with blotting paper under the printhead. I took out the black ink cartridge, and drew a couple ml of ink directly into the syringe, from the hole in the base of the cartridge. Then I attached the tubing to the syringe, pushed the ink down into the tube to get the air out, and pushed the tube onto the post above the printhead in the same way that I had done with the cleaning fluid. I forced the ink from the syringe into the printhead until it came out on the blotting paper below, then immediately reinstalled the cartridge and ran the printer as normal. At last, it worked perfectly, and I've now printed enough that I know its drawing from the cartridge, not just the ink that i forced into the printhead. The syringe and tubing then cleaned up nicely with just water.This is *not* the intended use of this product and *not* in the instructions, but just posting it here because as a last bid to salvage the printer, it was effective, and the equipment in this kit was perfectly suited to it.

Works well . i came to conclusion print head should be cleaned subsequent to each use so as to prevent clogging .