Rub the swab against the print head to loosen dried ink. You can also use a dropper to drip 7 to 10 drops of the isopropyl alcohol into the ink receptacle if your print head is deep in the printer. Use caution while cleaning with isopropyl alcohol. 2  Some printers have rubber gaskets that can dry out and break using this method. 3  Do not turn off or restart the printer while the cleaning function is running.