Abstract: An ink absorbing assembly has a first porous material disposed close to a paper against which ink jet droplets impact to print. Ink from an ink mist, which is produced from the droplets striking the paper, is absorbed by the first porous material and then transferred to a second porous material, which is in contact with the first porous material and of a different porosity than the first porous material. This enables the surface of the first porous material adjacent the paper in the print area to be relatively dry so as to not allow airborne particles to cling to this surface. By making the porous material of smaller porosity relatively thick in comparison with the other porous material, a relatively large quantity of ink can be absorbed by the porous material of smaller porosity without the surface of the porous material adjacent the paper in the print area becoming wet before replacement is necessary.