A cleaning apparatus for a liquid ejection head (20, 232), comprising: a long wiping member (32, 312) which is configured to come in contact with a liquid ejection face (22, 233) of a liquid ejection head (20, 232) to wipe the liquid ejection face (22, 233), the liquid ejection face (22, 233) being formed with nozzles configured to eject droplets of liquid; a wiping member conveyance device which is configured to drive the wiping member (32, 312) to be conveyed in a forward conveyance direction in a lengthwise direction of the wiping member (32, 312); a pressing member which is configured to cause the wiping member (32, 312) to come in contact and pressed against the liquid ejection face (22, 233) when the pressing member is placed at a first position; an elastic member which is configured to elastically deform and apply a force to cause the wiping member (32, 312) to be pressed against the liquid ejection face (22, 233) through the pressing member when the wiping member (32, 312) comes in contact and pressed against the liquid ejection face (22, 233); and a slack elimination mechanism which is configured to push down the pressing member against the force of the elastic member to a second position lower than the first position before the wiping member (32, 312) is brought into contact with the liquid ejection face (22, 233) to wipe the liquid ejection face (22, 233) by relative movement of the liquid ejection head (20, 232) with respect to the wiping member (32, 312) that is in contact with the liquid ejection head (20, 232) and travels by being driven to be conveyed by the wiping member conveyance device, and is configured to stop pushing the pressing member having been pushed down to the second position so as to move the pressing member along with the wiping member (32, 312) to the first position to bring the wiping member (32, 312) into contact with the liquid ejection face (22, 233), characterized in that the slack elimination mechanism includes a tensioning mechanism (80, 88, 89) which is configured to restrain travel of the wiping member (32, 312) in the forward conveyance direction at an upstream side of the pressing member in the forward conveyance direction, to tension the wiping member (32, 312) in cooperation with the wiping member conveyance device, and is configured to push down the pressing member along with the wiping member (32, 312) to the second position by tensioning the wiping member (32, 312). a long wiping member (32, 312) which is configured to come in contact with a liquid ejection face (22, 233) of a liquid ejection head (20, 232) to wipe the liquid ejection face (22, 233), the liquid ejection face (22, 233) being formed with nozzles configured to eject droplets of liquid; a wiping member conveyance device which is configured to drive the wiping member (32, 312) to be conveyed in a forward conveyance direction in a lengthwise direction of the wiping member (32, 312); a pressing member which is configured to cause the wiping member (32, 312) to come in contact and pressed against the liquid ejection face (22, 233) when the pressing member is placed at a first position; an elastic member which is configured to elastically deform and apply a force to cause the wiping member (32, 312) to be pressed against the liquid ejection face (22, 233) through the pressing member when the wiping member (32, 312) comes in contact and pressed against the liquid ejection face (22, 233); and a slack elimination mechanism which is configured to push down the pressing member against the force of the elastic member to a second position lower than the first position before the wiping member (32, 312) is brought into contact with the liquid ejection face (22, 233) to wipe the liquid ejection face (22, 233) by relative movement of the liquid ejection head (20, 232) with respect to the wiping member (32, 312) that is in contact with the liquid ejection head (20, 232) and travels by being driven to be conveyed by the wiping member conveyance device, and is configured to stop pushing the pressing member having been pushed down to the second position so as to move the pressing member along with the wiping member (32, 312) to the first position to bring the wiping member (32, 312) into contact with the liquid ejection face (22, 233), characterized in that the slack elimination mechanism includes a tensioning mechanism (80, 88, 89) which is configured to restrain travel of the wiping member (32, 312) in the forward conveyance direction at an upstream side of the pressing member in the forward conveyance direction, to tension the wiping member (32, 312) in cooperation with the wiping member conveyance device, and is configured to push down the pressing member along with the wiping member (32, 312) to the second position by tensioning the wiping member (32, 312).