Maintenance system using foaming cleaning bath

A printhead maintenance system comprising:

• an elongate inkjet printhead having a nozzle face containing a plurality of inkjet nozzles;
• a carriage movable longitudinally along the printhead in a cleaning direction, the carriage including a maintenance member comprising:
• a fluid bath having a mouth opposing the nozzle face of the printhead, a primary fluid inlet at an upstream end of the fluid bath relative to the cleaning direction, a suction nozzle at a downstream end of the fluid bath relative to the cleaning direction and a pair of wipers flanking the fluid bath;
• and
• a traversing mechanism for traversing the carriage longitudinally along the printhead in the cleaning direction,
• wherein:
• the maintenance member does not contact inkjet nozzles of the printhead;
• the wipers each comprise a wiper material for contacting respective parts of the printhead flanking the nozzle face;
• and
• the wiper material is air-permeable such that, in use, suction of air through the wiper material into the fluid bath generates a foam in the fluid bath.