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What Do Ink Cartridges Consist Of?

When you find a great printer, you must have thought that it was the only one that you have to pay for. What you probably did not consider at the time was that whatever money you saved it will be spent on buying ink cartridges. You may have bought a lot of ink cartridges and their prices have made you ask why do they cost so much?

So what do ink cartridges contain that makes it so expensive?

Water

The largest part of the mix that your ink cartridge contains is water. Around 95 percent of the ink inside those cartridges is water. Water acts as the main medium and it allows the dissolution of all the other substances with each other. This water is not your everyday drinking water. Water in ink cartridges is known as superpure deionised. 

Ethylene Glycol

If your ink cartridge did not contain ethylene glycol, then you would have had blocked printer heads all the time. Ethylene glycol’s job is the simplest in the ink cartridge mix. Ethylene Glycol can improve the time that the substance mix stays mixed with water inside the ink cartridge. It achieves two goals by doing this. This first is that it prevents the ink nozzles from clogging up and the other is that it prolongs the life of the ink inside the ink cartridge especially through periods of insufficient use. 

Acid Yellow 32 Dye

The first of the three colors that ink cartridges contain. This Acid Yellow 23 Dye is responsible for the primary color yellow. The common name of this substance is tartrazine. It is kept in a separate container inside the ink cartridge as it can’t be mixed with the other color dyes. Apart from being used in ink cartridges, this dye can also be used to color silks, food, wool, cosmetics and rugs. If you want to break open your ink cartridge, take note that the Acid Yellow 23 Dye is proven to cause allergic reactions. 

Direct Blue 199 Dye

The second dye in the ink cartridge is Direct Blue 199 Dye. It is the source of the main color blue in the set of three that ink cartridges contain. It is also located in a different compartment inside the ink cartridge. This dye is specifically used for dyeing cellulose based substances which includes paper in addition to cotton and hemp. This dye is also used in conjunction with a fixative which helps it get a hold on the medium in question like paper. 

Reactive Red 23 Dye

The third color in the ink cartridge is magenta and it is brought by Reactive Red 23 Dye. This dye is very reactive, which is why it is a part of its name. However, when it is mixed in water, it loses some of its reactive property and it becomes passive. This dye has copper in large amounts and it is also used in tinted contact lenses.  

Cyclohexanone

Cyclohexanone is a solvent and its primary job is to help the ink stick to the paper and not slide off or get smudged. While the details of how cyclohexanone helps the ink in the cartridge stick to the paper is too complicated to get into, its property of being less dense than water plays a role. While cyclohexanone is a key ingredient in the solution that ink cartridges have, this is not its primary use in the world. It is mainly used in making nylon. 

If you wish to have your own copier and you have questions regarding your ink cartridge, you can contact your local leasing company. If you have a copier in Portland, you can contact Portland at (971) 242-4130. They can assist you with copier leasing in Portland, copier rental in Portland.