We all have to remember that most ink jets are thermal---but Epsons use a piezoelectricity method to basically vibrate the ink onto the paper---which sadly mostly does not work well enough often earning the Epsons the name clogmasters. But at least Epson users don't have to worry about printhead burnout---and everyone else does. But once a printhead burns out, its forever---but it can be minor if its just a few elements in thousands.
But the other problem to worry about is a clog---but since inks are mostly water soluble---water will always work---but once the clog dries hard---it often won't work fast---ammonia which is no longer present in most modern windex works faster---as does rubbing alcohol--but both do have some potential to dissolve electrical contacts in printheads--so use them in low concentrations---and only at the clog sites. The fastest and safest way to increase clog dissolving speed is heat of about 130 degrees F or so---and Bill Kunert is exactly right about paper towels being used to apply solvent to the only the clog sites.
But of the four major inkjet printer manufacturers---Lexmark and HP group together by placing a cheap printhead on each cartridge---and the user pays through the nose for each cartridge----Canon use a separate and higher quality thermal printhead---and can vend cheaper cartridges---and gives the user a printhead the user can easily remove and replace--and clean easily. Epson has a separate and high quality non thermal printhead---and can vend cheaper cartridges---but by design prevents the user from easily removing, cleaning, or replacing the printhead---which sadly Epson sticks to---and as a result does not get the market share they could get if they lost some of their own stupidity.
