Laser printers use toner, which is a powder.  Inkjet printers use ink, which comes in liquid form.  Though toner has more of a tendency to spill or leak from the cartridge, ink can cause clogging in the print heads and nozzles as particles dry and gather over time.  All printers offer a cleaning cycle that should eliminate most issues, but occasionally this process is just not enough to unclog the nozzles.  Sometimes users can still print with a small clog, but quality will surely suffer.  Other times, the color that is jammed will not print at all. 

There is a simple cleaning you can do yourself that should wipe the problem right out.  All you need to have is a towel, some hot water and a small amount of isopropyl alcohol.

Remove the cartridge that is causing the problem.  Depending on the type of printer you have, the print head will be either on the cartridge or inside the printer. 

For models that have the print head in the printer, such as all Epson inkjets, after the cartridge is removed, put about 10 drops of the isopropyl alcohol in the receptacle area which has the hole that ink flows through.  Once you have done this, run the auto clean a couple more times then let the machine sit for a few hours.

If the print head is on the cartridge, soak it in hot water overnight.  Even soaking a towel in hot water and letting the cartridge lay on its side on the towel overnight should help loosed dried ink.  Use a dry towel to thoroughly dry the print head before putting it back in the printer, and run the auto clean cycle a couple times.  If still clogged, try soaking the print head in the isopropyl alcohol rather than hot water.

If none of this breaks down the clog, you might just want to buy a new cartridge or call a technician.

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