If you've ever started the day with a white channel that won't print, you know one clog can hold up every order in the queue. White ink settles easily, so good DTF printer maintenance is built around keeping it moving.
This guide covers the routine that keeps any DTF printer ready to print: the daily, weekly and slow-week steps, how to clean a DTF printhead without damaging it, and what to do when white stops printing. Your printer's manual has the exact steps, menus and limits for your model, so keep it close while you set up your routine.
Why White Ink Needs the Most Attention
White DTF ink settles faster than the color inks, and white nozzles clog easily when the routine slips. That's why the white gets shaken every day.
The color inks settle too, just more slowly, so they get shaken less often. Your manual gives the interval for your printer.
Set Up the Room First
Your routine starts with where the printer lives. A steady room keeps color stable and keeps the nozzles from drying out.
- Keep the temperature steady. Hold the room at a constant temperature and humidity inside the range your printer's manual gives.
- Keep heat and drafts off it. Heat sources and air blowing straight from vents or air conditioners can dry the nozzles and cause clogs.
- Keep dust and lint away. Cover the printer at the end of the day to keep dust off it.
- Store supplies right. Keep ink, film and powder out of direct sunlight and humid areas, in containers with lids and silica packs.
DTF Printer Maintenance Schedule at a Glance
Here's the whole routine in one place. Your manual sets the exact intervals for your model, and the sections below walk through each step.
- Shake the white ink: Start of every day
- Shake the color inks: Less often, on your manual's schedule
- Nozzle check: Before you print each day
- Head cleaning: When the nozzle check shows gaps
- Clean the wiper, the cap and around the head: End of every day, or when your printer prompts you
- Wipe up splashed ink: End of every day
- Waste ink: Check weekly, and empty or replace it on your printer's schedule or prompt
- Pinch rollers and encoder strip: On your manual's schedule
- Wiper and cap replacement: When they're worn, or when your printer prompts you
- Firmware: Check for updates regularly
- Slow weeks: Keep printing or powering on, and don't let the printer sit idle for days
Daily Maintenance: Start of the Day
Do these before the first job. They tell you the printer is ready before you load a design and film.
1 Shake the White Ink
Shake the white ink bottle or pack, using the method in your printer's manual.
2 Run a Nozzle Check
Print a nozzle check and look at every channel, white included.
3 Clean Only When the Check Shows Gaps
Run a head cleaning when the nozzle check shows missing lines, then print the check again. See how to clean a DTF printhead below if one cleaning doesn't clear it.
4 Check Your Ink
Top up or replace ink before it runs out and keep spares on hand. Never leave a bottle or tray empty, because the ink in the printer can dry.
Daily Maintenance: End of the Day
Five things before you leave, so the head sits clean and capped overnight.
1 Clean Around the Head, the Wiper and the Cap
Clean the wiper, the top of the capping station and the area around the printhead at the end of every day, or when your printer prompts you.
Use the swabs or cleaning sticks and the cleaning solution made for your printer. Cleaning sticks that shed lint can damage the printhead, so skip cotton swabs around the head.
2 Wipe Up Splashed Ink
Clean any ink that has splashed around the cap, the wiper and the carriage.
3 Replace a Worn Wiper
Swap the wiper when it's deformed or ink won't wipe off it anymore. Some printers tell you when the wiper and cap are due, so replace them when yours does.
4 Park the Head on the Cap
Make sure the carriage is sitting on the capping station before you walk away. A head that isn't sitting properly on the cap can dry up.
5 Leave It Powered On
Leave the printer on overnight unless your manual says otherwise. Never cut its power at the breaker or pull the plug while it's on, because the head may not get capped. Then cover the printer for the night.
Weekly Maintenance
Pick a set day so it doesn't slide.
1 Check the Waste Ink
Check the waste ink every week, and empty or replace it on your printer's schedule or when it prompts you. Keep the waste tube pointing down and out of the waste ink, and never remove the waste bottle while the printer is printing or cleaning.
2 Clean the Pinch Rollers
Wipe the pinch rollers with a dry, lint-free cloth. Don't use alcohol on them: it can harden and crack the roller rubber.
3 Clean the Encoder Strip
Clean the encoder strip with exactly what your manual specifies, on a lint-free cloth. The right cleaner differs from printer to printer, so don't substitute another one.
Keep Firmware Up to Date
Firmware updates belong on the list too. Check for updates with your printer maker's update software, and never turn off the printer or the computer while an update is running.
How to Clean a DTF Printhead
Day to day, the printer does the printhead cleaning. You run a head cleaning from the control panel or software after a nozzle check shows gaps, then print the check again. By hand, you clean around the head, the cap and the wiper, never the nozzle face.
If one cleaning doesn't clear it, step up rather than repeating the same cycle. Your manual lists the next step for your printer, such as a stronger cleaning level or a soak in the capping station, with a nozzle check after each try.
If two or three cleanings don't clear it, stop repeating them and move to that next step. If the stronger steps don't bring it back, contact our team before you take the carriage apart.
When the Printer Sits: Weekends and Slow Weeks
White ink settles while the printer sits, so keep the printer on and printing, even when orders are slow. Don't let it sit idle for days: print, or power it on, at the interval your manual gives, and keep up the daily maintenance on slow days.
Before a long break, run the storage steps in your manual first. Skip them and the ink can dry or a nozzle can clog for good.
After any break, shake the white ink and run a nozzle check before the first job.
DTF Printer Not Printing White? Work Through This First
When the white channel drops out, work through these in order before you replace any parts.
- Shake the white ink, using your printer's method.
- Check the white supply. Make sure the white bottle or pack is installed and has ink.
- Print a nozzle check and look closely at the white channel.
- Clean and step up. Follow the cleaning steps in how to clean a DTF printhead, including any stronger cleaning or soak your manual lists.
- Still blank? Contact us before you buy parts, with your printer model and a photo of the nozzle check.
If the white prints but shows small holes, our DTF pinhole guide covers that problem.
DTF Printer Maintenance Supplies to Keep on Hand
Keep these stocked so cleaning never waits on a missing item, and check your manual for the exact cleaner and parts your printer takes.
- Cleaning solution made for your printer, from our DTF cleaning supplies.
- Foam swabs for the cap, the wiper and around the head.
- Lint-free cloths for the pinch rollers and the encoder strip.
- Spare ink, so a bottle or tray never runs empty: see our DTF ink.
- Replacement parts for when a wiper or cap wears out: see our DTF replacement parts.
Nozzle Check Still Won't Come Clean?
Send us your printer model and what the check shows, and we'll help you find the fix before you spend on parts.
Talk to a Print ExpertFrequently Asked Questions
Keep the White Flowing
Shake the white and check the nozzles every morning, clean around the head, the wiper and the cap every night, and keep the printer on and printing through slow weeks. Clean only when the check calls for it, and never touch the nozzle face.
All American Print Supply has been in business since 1986. If a clog won't clear, talk to our team, and if you're just getting into DTF, start with our complete guide to DTF printing or browse our DTF printers.
