Microelectromechanical pagewidth printheads include a very large number of ink ejection nozzles fabricated upon a silicon wafer. Ink stored in the printhead subsequent to a printing operation is vulnerable to becoming undesirably viscous thereby causing inconsistent printing. In order to address this problem the present invention provides a printhead recapping mechanism. The mechanism includes a base portion, that includes a solenoid coil and a movable capping portion which incorporates magnetically attractive material responsive to the coil. A spring biases the capping portion to a quiescent capping position when the printhead is not in use. During printing operations a current is applied to the solenoid coil to overcome the biasing spring and draw the capping portion from the capping position.