According to aspects of the embodiments, there is provided an apparatus and method to maintain a clean and effective external heat roll surface in a printing system. The disclosed embodiment's uses a cleaning roller in contact with the external heat rollers designed to dislodge and displace contamination products that would otherwise accumulate on and in the external heat roller rough surface. The cleaning roller rotates concurrently with the heating roller so that the cleaning media cleans the roller from a picking action as opposed to a wiping motion. This provides maximum cleaning action with the undesirable wear and tear of the bristles that would occur with the conventional method of a wiping motion.