Ink cartridge refilling is a popular alternative to replacing empty ink cartridges. Most original cartridges and ink tanks can be successfully re-inked at fraction of the cost of new cartridges. This includes Canon, Dell, Lexmark, HP and most other makes of ink cartridges or tanks. All you need is some ink, refill tools and refill instructions...a "refill kit".
Find ink refill kits for Brother,Canon, Dell, Epson, HP, Lexmark (genuine) ink cartridges by clicking one of the links or pictures below...or read more about ink refilling further down this page.
ink cartridges and ink tanks are sold as "disposable" these days, even though most are brilliant pieces of engineering that can be refilled many times before they fail and need replacing. Some (not all) genuine ink cartridges are so well built that even after 100 refills they print as good as brand new. And new ink cartridges are pretty expensive, so...why not refill?
Are ink refills much cheaper than buying cartridges..?
Example 1 - Let's say your printer uses 2 (black & colour) cartridges and they cost $25 and $30 respectively. Typical black cartridge contains 10ml or so of ink and the colour cartridge 3-4ml per colour (x 3). This would be about average. You can buy 2 (black & colour) high quality refill kits here for around $70 and get 125ml of black ink and 3 x 50ml of colour ink (as well as refill tools etc). This is enough to refill 12 black cartridges and 12 colour cartridges. In other words, it's costing you less than $6 to refill the two cartridges. You'll save $590 by the time you use up all the supplied ink.
Example 2 - Let's say your printer uses 5 individual ink tanks costing $20 each. Typical black tank holds 20ml of ink and each colour tank 10ml of ink. If you buy premium ink in 250ml bottles, your total outlay will be less than $200. This will buy you the ink and all the tools, plugs etc you'll need. Now...the 250ml ink bottles will give you about 12 black refills and 25 refills of each colour ink tank. In other words, equivalent of 112 ink tanks (12 black & 100 colour) or $2240 worth of cartridges for under $200. You save $2040 by refilling.
Yes, refilling works out much cheaper than buying cartridges...and there are other benefits as well.
Ink refilling is convenient...
Having a set of ink bottles on hand and topping your cartridges up when empty would have to be more convenient, than having to go out to buy a new cartridge. Running out of ink at 10pm or on Sunday afternoon, half way through an urgent print job is no problem - if you have a refill kit in your draw.
Better for the environment...
Millions of ink cartridges end up in landfill every year and that can't be very good. But compared to all the other stuff that gets thrown out as part of our everyday life, few plastic ink cartridges here or there surely can't make that much difference. Then again...each refilled cartridge saves about 250ml of oil and several kW of energy being wasted on making a new one...
Refilling is not difficult...
It can be quite easy - if you know what you're doing and have the right tools and good instructions to follow. Sure, you can save few dollars by just buying a bottle of ink and a syringe, but not knowing what to do and not having the correct tools or plugs etc can make the difference between successful refill and total failure. And the few dollars you saved will probably go toward buying a new cartridge anyway...after you clean up the mess.
Some cartridges are super easy to fill and the whole process might only take you 1-2 minutes once you learn the tricks. Some are harder to fill and it will take you longer than that, but still well worth the effort.
Read the instructions...read the instructions again and most importantly - follow the instructions. These are the main keys to successful refilling. Don't skip the instructions, even if you refilled similar cartridges before.
Note: Be prepared to put more effort into refilling - than you would into fitting new cartridges.
Look after your ink cartridges...
If you don't, the number of successful refills will be reduced dramatically.
Whenever possible, printer cartridges should be refilled before (or as soon as) empty. If empty for any length of time, the cartridges may not fill properly, or not print right (if at all) after refilling. Colour cartridges should be refilled when (or before) any colour starts to fade out. Continuing to print with even one colour empty is a quick way to destroy a good cartridge. Most print-heads operate at very high temperature and need the ink flow for cooling. Without ink, the print-head will overheat and eventually fail.
At the same time...don't stress too much over running out of ink - with most printers. Refilling many recent printers involves disabling of the ink monitor, which means you loose the ink level indication and it can be difficult to keep track of the ink levels. Sure, it would be better to never run out, but it is not always practical. As long as you don't continue printing without ink for more than few pages, it should not cause any major issues in majority of printers. There are exceptions to this and printers with remote print-heads (eg Brother and some HP's) need special care with ink monitoring. You don't ever want to run out of ink in these printers.
Refilling doesn't have to be messy...
But...you are dealing with ink, so be prepared to get your fingers inked a bit. Pick an area where accidental spill can be tolerated, like a clean sink draining board. Saving $20 by refilling your cartridges will quickly loose it's appeal, if you destroy $1000 worth of carpet in the process. Always keep a box of tissues on hand when working with ink.. and take your time!
Ink washes from hands with water and soap, best if it's done straight away. Stubborn stains can take few attempts to remove. Hair shampoo works well too. Regular washing does reasonably good job on ink stained clothes and most stains will come out after few washes. But don't count on it...dark stains on fabric are fairly permanent - unless the garment can be bleached.
To start refilling your ink cartridges you will need:
quality ink (formulated to mix with the original ink)
accurate instructions you can read & understand
all necessary tools, plugs etc
undamaged (working) cartridge
If you decide to buy a refill kit here...you're well on your way to successful refilling. All you need then are your empty ink cartridges and few minutes of time. InkBank refill kits make the refilling as simple as possible with easy to follow instructions, premium grade refill ink and all the tools you need for the job. Need help? Take advantage of our free phone and email support.
Are all cartridges (or ink tanks) refillable..?
Many recent printers don't accept refilled ink cartridges. With these printers, you might need some refill friendly cartridges or a chip resetter to make your printer tolerate ink refills. This means you may have to put ink refilling on hold - until such devices become available. This applies to all new Epson, some HP and few Canon individual ink tanks. Most recent Lexmark printers only tolerate the refilling of specific "A" marked genuine cartridges. Most other Lexmark cartridges are marked as "return program", cost bit less, but can't be refilled.
Note: You don't need a chip re-setter or refill friendly cartridges - to refill cartridges with print head. Chip re-setters only apply to individual Canon, Epson and HP ink tanks. There aren't any available for any cartridge with printhead.
How much refill ink are you getting..?
If you are comparing refill kit prices from different companies
, don't forget to factor in volumes and grade of the ink. Many competitors refill kits only come with 10-20ml of ink per colour. All InkBank refills include at least 50ml of each colour and up to 175ml of black ink. And since InkBank ink is the highest quality you can buy, yes - it might cost little bit more than some...
Select your printer make below to find a refill kit or more specific info... If your make is not listed, please contact us
