PURPOSE: To clean the underside of a charge wire by providing a wire cleaning tool provided with a cleaning member in which a wire housing groove is formed and a guiding part for guiding the wire cleaning tool.

CONSTITUTION: In the case of cleaning the charge wire 31, the wire cleaning tool 32 is held by hand, guided through the guiding part 35 and moved in a direction perpendicular to the length direction of the wire 31, then it is moved to a cleaning position so as to house the wire 31 in the wire housing groove 42. Thereafter, the wire cleaning tool 32 is moved to a retreat position to be separated from the wire 31. Thus, not only the one side but also the other side of the charge wire are cleaned, so that the irregularity of electrostatic charging or the irregularity of transferring are prevented and image quality is improved.