Laminators And Laminating Systems

A laminator is a piece of equipment which is used to seal documents in a plastic covering, making them waterproof, durable and protecting them from the elements. Display cards, ID cards and important documents are often laminated.

Types of Laminating Systems

Pouch laminators, roll laminators and CD laminators are three kinds of laminating equipment which are popular today in homes, offices and schools.

Pouch Laminator

A pouch laminator is effective without being expensive and is suitable for home or small office use. This type of machine uses plastic lamination pouches which are sealed on the long or short edge. The pouch is coated with film which adheres to the paper you are laminating when exposed to heat. The pouch is passed through a set of heated rollers under pressure.

Pouches such as butterfly pouches can be used if you want to make ID cards. These pouches have embedded magnetic strips. Laminator pouches come in different thicknesses, with the thicker ones usually costing more.

Cold Roll Laminator

A cold roll laminator uses a plastic film with a glossy, sticky backing that does not adhere to the glue. When this backing is taken off, the adhesive sticks to the item you want to laminate. This is a good lamination system for items which might be damaged by heat, such as photographs. Cold laminators range from small, basic, two roller machines to big, motor-driven machines with a variety of features.

Heated Roll Laminator

A heated roll laminator works in a different way. This piece of laminating equipment uses heated rollers to melt glue on to lamination film. The film is then applied to card or paper using rollers. These roll laminators vary in size and they are often used in the print industry, to cover magazines, posters, books and postcards for example.

Heated roll laminators work more quickly than some other types of laminating equipment and are the most common type of laminator used in schools, homes and offices. The rollers are used to enable to adhesive to spread better. This reduces the risk of tiny air bubbles getting inside the laminate.

CD Laminator

A CD laminator is used to coat CDs, DVDs and other discs with a thin plastic coating to protect the inkjet printing from normal handling, eliminating the risks of scratches and moisture. Top of the range CD laminators can coat hundreds of discs per hour.

Laminator Sizes

Laminating systems range from small, inexpensive household and office machines for laminating ID cards, documents and photographs to huge laminating equipment for making posters and banners.

You can choose from A4 laminators, A3 laminators, big A1 laminators or even a 44″ laminator for laminating very large items. Laminators range in price from twenty dollars for a very basic model to thousands of dollars for a large, industrial laminator.

Best Laminator Brands

Some of the best laminating equipment on the market is made by GBC, Fellowes, 3M, Brother, Ibico, Xyron and Lamitek. When buying a laminator, it is a good idea to compare different laminating systems to find a good price. You should also know which sizes of documents or other items you want to laminate, so the machine can handle them. Finally, it is a good idea to compare laminator features and choose a machine offering all the features you will need for laminating.

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