Storing an Ink Cartridge For Later Use

By: Dave Matthews

Many of us still use printers, believe it or not. The backbone of many a small business, the humble printer shows that the world has not gone truly digital, not yet anyway. Having a good and reliable printer means that important documents can be created and then published. This is all dependent on one small factor, however. And that is the availability of ink.



Many people do not know how to store their ink cartridges if they take them out of the printer. Manufacturers often warn against leaving cartridges inside machines, due to the possibility of them leaking and so on. But when we take them out, it is not always easy to understand where we can store them so that they can be reused later. Too often, ink cartridges are taken out of storage and are immediately dried up, due to the fact that they have been stored incorrectly. There are ways around this, and this article seeks to illustrate them.



The first thing you should do is locate some small sandwich storage bags, the ones that can be sealed up. They tend to have little plastic zippers running along one end. These are perfect for storing ink cartridges, so make sure that you have one for each cartridge you are going to store. Then find a sponge or wet towel and wring it out as strongly as you can, just so the towel or sponge is not dripping with water. It is highly vital that the sponge or towel are damp, noticeably so, but not dripping, because you are going to place it in the bag.



Once you have established that your sponge or towel is fine and ready, place them in the bag alongside the ink cartridge. This may seem a little weird, and even foolish, but it will work. Once you have placed the sponge or towel inside the bag, seal it nice and tight. Then all you have to do is take your bag with both items inside it and find a cool and dark place to store it. It is that simple. Once you are ready to use your ink cartridge, retrieve it from the cool and dark place and there you go.



Many people do not know that this is a simple and quick way to store a cartridge. In addition, there are manufacturers and providers out there who offer another method to help you keep the cartridge alive. They suggest that you tape up the print head on the cartridge. While this is a perfectly effective way of stopping the print head from drying up, it is important that you take care when removing the tape. It is very easy to damage the print head if you are not careful when removing sticky tape form it.



Take care with the cartridge, store it well and be careful with the print head. Once that print head is damaged, the cartridge is useless, no matter how much ink is still left in the cartridge.