TLC for Printers… How to Care For Your Printer

People tend to forget about looking after us printers. We sit in the corner, purring ever so softly, but nobody gives us a pat on the head for churning out page after page, and we seldom get treats, like a good brush-down.

Many of us are in need a bit of TLC, so here are my tips on how to look after me and the rest of my printer family.

Run my maintenance cycle

Did you know that printers are very fastidious creatures? Oh yes, that’s why we have so many cleaning features. There are few things we like more than a kind human coming along and running our maintenance cycle, helping to clear our clogged nozzles. Make us happy and help us to clean ourselves.

Make sure my home is neat

Printers also like to live in a neat and tidy home (some people think that printers live in nests, but we actually call our homes ‘dens’).

Being surrounded by office junk and #cables makes us very unhappy, because our trays can’t be extended and bits of rubbish might drop into us. (Years ago I had a cousin who had a cigarette dropped on her, poor thing.)

Please make sure that the area around us is clear and that any cables are tidied away (or hung up). Oh, oh and label them too, so nobody accidentally unplugs us. Ouch!

I like to look sleek and smart

Why is that humans will spend hours polishing their cars, but won’t wipe down their printers? Some new models are really streamlined and snazzy. It doesn’t matter whether your printer is a speed machine or a reliable old boy, it’s not keen on bearing inky thumbprints and coffee rings.

It’s easy to keep it looking smooth and smart by wiping it down with a cleaning wipe or a microfibre cloth.

Turn me off and close me up

When you’re finished in the evening, don’t run home without saying goodbye to me first. The best way to do that is to turn me off; I won’t be forced to stay awake, using energy.

Also when you’ve finished printing, please close all my feed and output trays. This will help cut down on dust getting into me (and stop me sneezing). If you’re leaving for the weekend, or a holiday, you could even cover me up. I like being coddled.

Choose the right paper

I don’t mind working hard, but I get really frustrated when people don’t use the correct kind of paper for their documents. I’m often worn out with the effort: a paper jam, which means people are fumbling in my innards, or they have to print once again because the #paper was too flimsy and there’s a show through on the other side. As for forgetting to use glossy paper and stacking the tray with matt…

I don’t like feeling parched

If you’re printing a lot of stuff I can get quite thirsty and my creators told me I have to let you know by flashing messages and beeping. (Sorry, but I promised.)

If you want to be extra nice, try to buy ink cartridges and toner regularly instead of buying a lot at once and letting them sit for ages. While I will always work hard to print beautiful pages for you, I was told newly bought ink is a bit better for me.

Oh and try to use me regularly too; I’m a precision-engineered machine, an athlete, and I enjoy the exercise. (I heard people talking about ‘personal affirmations’ in the office, so I’m trying them out.)

Be careful with your cats

All printers are animal lovers; we like printing pictures of puppies and kittens, but sometimes grown-up cats can be a bit mean. Don’t believe me? Have a look at this video. Not only is the kitty scared, the poor printer gets pawed and clawed.

Please be careful with your pets so we don’t give each other a fright (and I don’t get a fur ball).