How to make your printer cartridge last longer

Printers are expensive, and sometimes we waste money primarily for one reason: frequent cartridge replacement. This can be significantly extended if you take a few precautions. Starting with the preliminary one: shake the cartridge gently, Especially if it's laser toner, as long as it still allows you to print with good image quality (and this can even be true for a few hundred pages). Only when the print quality is truly poor, with white streaks and faded colors, even after shaking the cartridge, should you consider the toner empty and proceed with replacing the cartridge.

Then there are other precautions, with which you can extend the life of a cartridge by up to 40-50 percent.

What to do to extend the life of the cartridge

For the rest, to make your printer cartridge last longer, adopt these simple practical precautions, which can save between 20 and 50 percent on the cost of the cartridge:

Use draft mode, Especially when printing non-final documents. The "grayscale" mode, which uses only shades of gray (from black to white) instead of colors, also extends the life of the cartridge.
Print directly in black and white when color is not necessary.
Reduce ink coverage, for example by avoiding large images, colored backgrounds, or very heavy fonts.
Choose efficient fonts such as Arial, Calibri or, for maximum savings, specially designed fonts such as Ecofont.
Print only the pages you need using print preview to avoid errors, unnecessary pages, and even wasted time letter.
For inkjet printers, print regularly (for example, a page every week or two), even when you don't need it, to prevent ink drying out and printhead clogging.
Turn off the printer properly via the power button, so it can park the heads in the correct way.
Keep spare cartridges in their original packaging, in a cool, dry place, away from direct sunlight: this way they will last longer.
Be careful where you place your printer: dry air, direct sunlight, and dust can dry out the print heads, shortening the life of your cartridge.

In general the printer monochrome laser, it is cheaper to maintain, as there are no color cartridges to replace, and the toner does not dry out during periods of non-use.

The impact of cleaning cycles

Sometimes, even when you don't use your printer much, the cartridge runs out quickly because these devices also use ink for invisible tasks, such as cleaning cycles. These cycles, in turn, are essential because they clean the printheads, which would otherwise become clogged, but they should be used only when necessary. And to reduce them:

Leave the printer on if you use it frequently. Some models perform a more intensive cleaning when turned on after long periods of inactivity.
Always turn off from the power button, without disconnecting the power. This way, the heads are parked correctly and dry out less.
Print a small test page every week or two If you rarely use your printer, this often consumes less ink than a subsequent deep cleaning.
Avoid frequent removal and reinsertion of cartridges, as some models automatically start a maintenance procedure.
Check your printer software: Some manufacturers allow you to limit automatic cleaning or choose between normal and deep cleaning.
Keep your printer in a suitable environment, avoiding high temperatures and very dry air, which accelerate the drying of the ink.
If you print little, evaluate a laser printer: the toner does not dry out and does not require head cleaning cycles.

How long should a cartridge last?

Manufacturers indicate the yield in number of pages, generally according to an international standard that assumes a page coverage of the 5% (about a letter or a not too thick text document). Obviously, the cartridge life depends primarily on the model.

Inkjet cartridges

Standard cartridges: approx. 100–300 pages.
High capacity cartridges (XL): approx. 300–1.000 pages.

Laser toner

Standard toner: approx. 1.000–3.000 pages.
High-capacity toner: 3.000–10.000 pages, depending on the model.

Actual yield may be lower than these averages if you print photos or images with heavy coverage or even documents with many graphics, if you perform many cleaning cycles, if you print a few pages at a time, with frequent switching on and off.

How much do cartridges cost and how much can you save?

The cost of a cartridge is very wide, depending on the model chosen and the expected performance: it ranges from 20 to 150 euros. Compared to this scale, with the precautions we've indicated, the savings in cartridge consumption range from 20 to 50 percent. This is not a small amount, and it represents a lot of money saved or wasted.