A liquid ejection apparatus includes: a liquid ejection head; a long wiping member configured to come in contact with and wipe a liquid ejection face of the head; a wiping member conveyance device configured to drive the wiping member to be conveyed in a lengthwise direction of the wiping member; a pressing member configured to cause the wiping member to come in contact and pressed against the liquid ejection face when the pressing member is placed at a first position; and a slack elimination mechanism configured to push down the pressing member to a second position lower than the first position before the wiping member is brought into contact with the liquid ejection face, and to stop pushing the pressing member so as to move the pressing member along with the wiping member to the first position to bring the wiping member into contact with the liquid ejection face.