An ink jet printing process comprising: forming an image directly on a
printing medium by an electrostatic ink jet method comprising ejecting an
oil ink using electrostatic field based on signals of image data; and
preparing a printed matter by fixing said image, wherein said process
uses: (1) an ink circulation line having the following members a, b and c:
a. an ink jet ejection head, b. an ink transportation line comprising an
ink feed line for feeding said oil ink to said ink jet ejection head and
an ink recovery line for recovering said oil ink from said ink jet
ejection head, and c. an ink tank for storing said oil ink; (2) a cleaning
solution feed line for feeding a cleaning solution to said ink
transportation line; and (3) a cleaning solution recovery line for
recovering said cleaning solution from said ink transportation line, and
wherein at the time of cleaning, said ink tank is separated from said ink
transportation line, said cleaning solution feed line and said cleaning
solution recovery line are connected to said ink transportation line, and
a cleaning solution is transported to the ink transportation line to
perform the cleaning.