Clean printhead streaks without wasting ink

Horizontal gaps, faded bands, or one missing color often look like “empty ink” when the nozzles are simply clogged or the head needs a light clean. Jumping straight to a deep clean can dump a surprising amount of ink into the maintenance pad. Work from the smallest test upward.

Confirm the cartridge number first

Wrong or incompatible supplies can print with streaks or show odd warnings. Before you run cleaning cycles, confirm the model and cartridge (or bottle) number with How to find your exact ink or toner number.

Start with a nozzle check, not a deep clean

Almost every inkjet menu has a nozzle check or test pattern under Setup, Maintenance, or Tools.

Load plain paper.
Print the nozzle check once.
Read the pattern: unbroken lines for each color mean the head is fine; dotted or missing segments point to a clog or a starved color.

If the pattern looks good but a photo still looks wrong, try a different paper type setting or a higher quality mode before you burn ink on cleaning.

Climb the cleaning ladder slowly

Use the printer’s own clean options in this order:

Normal / light clean — one pass, then another nozzle check.
Wait a few minutes if the manual suggests it, then recheck.
Deep / powerful clean — only after two light cleans still leave gaps in the same color.

Deep cleans pull much more ink through the head. Stop when the nozzle check improves; do not “one more deep clean for luck.” For tank printers with bottles, the same light-then-deep order applies.

Before another clean, confirm each supply is clicked in fully and that the color you are cleaning is not empty. Cleaning on an empty channel often makes gaps worse.

When to stop

If the same gaps remain after light cleans, a confirmed full supply, and a correct cartridge number — or the printer reports a worn pad, full maintenance box, or head failure — it is a service or replacement question, not another clean cycle.

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