Laminators are important tools for offices, especially if they have documents or photos that need to be protected in plastic. Laminators come in several different sizes, styles, and price points, so it can be helpful to know exactly what you need before you spend the money.
There are several different types of laminators like thermal laminators, cold laminators, and pouch laminators. Knowing what type of laminator best suits your needs so you do not waste money on a product that will not work at your office, school, or home. No matter what type you buy, they all do the same thing, which is seal flat items in plastic.
How Do Laminators Work
Laminators work by using heat and pressure to put plastic over paper and they usually do it by having the paper fed into a machine either on sheet at a time or in a pouch. Many laminators have roller systems that feed the paper through the machine.
Some laminators, especially those that use pouches, have to have paper placed between a plastic cover. The pouch, with the paper inside of it, is fed through the machine that presses the plastic to the document in a tight bond.
Other laminators have temperature controls and speed settings that let you process documents with more efficiency. High-end laminators like these do not require the use of pouches. Instead, they use rolls of plastic with heat-activated glue. Some can even reverse documents out of the rollers if they detect misfeeds.
What Can Be Laminated
Most laminated items are made of paper, but there are other items that can be laminated, too. Most items that are laminated are important and need to be preserved or need to be used repeatedly. The most commonly laminated items include:
- Certificates
- Posters
- Signs
- Menus
- Photos
- Safety instructions
- Checklists
- ID cards
People buy laminators for use in schools, offices, restaurants, and homes, too. Teachers often use laminated checklists and posters in their classrooms. The plastic coating allowed them to write on the documents with dry-erase pens. Restaurant menus are often laminated because they last longer and can withstand spills and liquids. Office workers use laminators for ID badges and other important items. Many people use small laminators at home for crafting.
Factors to Consider
As you are shopping for a laminator, there are several factors to consider. Before you make your choice, evaluate what your specific needs are so you can choose the best style, with the right capacity and width.
There are several types of laminators, hot, cold, roll, and pouch. They all enclose documents in plastic, but the way they do it can affect the document. Some are less expensive to buy upfront, but the supplies are expensive. Others have a high upfront cost, but the supplies are inexpensive.
It is important to consider the size of the documents and paper that you use as well as the purpose of the laminated items. Some laminators have rolls of plastic that can cover long or wide items. Others can only fit a specific size of paper, like A4 or A3. It is also important to choose a laminator that can fit the thickness of the paper or other items you are trying to cover.
Types of Laminating Machines
Whether you need a laminator for occasional use in your home office or you need an industrial version for a school, there is one that will meet your needs. Laminators come in these different formats:
- Hot, thermal film – Laminators that use heat and film have two layers of plastic film that are fed through hot rollers with the document that needs to be laminated. The document is placed between them and as they pass through the heated rollers quickly activate the glue that holds the plastic together. Heat and film laminators are usually industrial level and can process a variety of sizes of paper very quickly. Hot laminators like these are priced fairly and the film is less expensive to use than pouches, but you must buy it in bulk.
- Pouch – If you need a laminator at your home, the pouch style is useful. These are small machines, usually the size of a desktop printer. They take time to heat up and once they get to the recommended temperature, you put the document in a pouch with the plastic and feed it through the machine. You can only feed one item through the machine at a time and pouches can only be used once. The machines and pouches are low in price, but if you have to do a lot of laminating, the cost can be excessive.
- Cold – Since some documents should not be put through heated rollers, cold laminators are important options to have. These machines rely only on pressure to lock documents into plastic. The machines are not expensive to buy, but the cold-pressure plastic pouches are. Cold laminators are good choices if you need to preserve photos, carbon copies, and items with adhesives on them.
Laminator Sizes
Sizes of laminators can vary, too. These are two common sizes that come in all three types of machines.
- A3 – The A3 laminator is the big size that schools and large offices often use. These are useful for posters and other large-print media. Several items can be fed through them consecutively as the film comes in large rolls. These are usually in the thermal style.
- A4 – The A4 laminator is a smaller machine and usually the pouch and cold styles. These are also used in offices and schools, but are also commonly found in homes. They are perfect for laminating single sheets of paper as well as ID cards, and report covers. They are affordably priced and the necessary laminating pouches are easy to find in office supply stores.
Using a Pouch Laminator
When you buy your laminator, it will come with instructions. Since there are many moving pieces to laminators, it is important to follow the instructions. However, most laminators work the same way.
Carrier or Not
Before you stick any document through the rollers, you should check if you need to use a carrier, which is a cardboard pouch that protects the document and the plastic sheeting from the heat. If you use a carrier when you do not need one, you might have to pass the document through the laminator several times. And, if you do not use one when you should, you could burn the document and the plastic sheeting.
If the machine requires a carrier, it might come with one. Otherwise, you will get a carrier when you buy a package of laminating pouches.
Filling the Pouch
If you have a pouch laminator, you will have to put the document in the pouch before you slide it through the machine. You might have to also put the pouch into a carrier. Be sure the document is centered in the pouch so it looks nice when it is permanently encased.
Warming It Up and Letting it Cool
Most of pouch laminators need to be warmed up before the pouch passes through the rollers. Once it reaches the necessary temperature, you pass the pouch through it and collect it on the other side of the rollers. In some cases, after the document is fed through, the unit needs to heat back up again.
After you have laminated the item, let it cool. Then, you can trim the extra plastic, if you do not want the document to have a border. In some cases, you have to leave some of the border to keep the plastic on the document.
Professional Quality Laminators
If you are using a laminator in a school, office, or industrial setting, you will need something more efficient than a pouch laminator. The A3 and A4 laminators are speedy and often fill the need. While you will spend more money upfront buying an A3 or A4, you will not spend as much on buying the film that covers the documents as you will on a pouch laminator.
The A3 and A4 Models
The A3 and A4 models heat quickly and do not cool after a document passes through it. The latest models will not laminate a document if it is not aligned properly. These high quality laminators do not leave bubbles in documents, either. Some also have programmable settings to speed the process, too.
If you need quicker laminators, there are industrial models that are meant for all-day use. Heavy-duty machines work quickly and they provide outstanding lamination with very little bubbling or misalignments. Print shops that need to laminate all day long often invest in heavy-duty laminators.
Laminating Film
No matter what type of laminating machine you buy, you will want to choose a laminating film that will meet your needs, too. Some films are meant to last a lifetime. Some do not last as long. The price will vary based on the durability, opacity, and thickness. Some have a glossy finish, while others are matte. The items you are laminating and the type of machine you have should dictate the type of film you buy.
