Inkjet cartridges are like your car battery—they hate being ignored. If you don’t print regularly, the ink can dry out and clog the print head. So show your printer some love a few times a month!
Got a Brother or Epson printer with a built-in printhead? Then listen up: ink cartridges must be present at the printhead—leaving it empty is a one-way ticket to Print Head Pain™.
Got extras? Store them somewhere cool and dry. No glove boxes. No sunbaked shelves. Your cartridges deserve better.
Laser toner doesn’t dry out (hallelujah), but don’t get too confident. The moment you don’t have a backup will be the exact moment you need one—usually at 8 PM on a Sunday.
Keep a spare on the shelf and avoid the last-minute panic.
Automatic firmware updates might seem helpful, but they can block your printer from using generic or budget-friendly cartridges.
So go ahead—turn those updates off. You’re the boss of your printer, not the other way around.