Beginner Guide To Laminators

Pouch laminators are the most popular laminating machines on the market. The ease of use and mobility make it a best seller. Pouch laminating machines come in different shapes and sizes. The most common sizes are usually 4” and 12” laminators. Pouch laminating machines use a lamination pouch that is usually sealed on one side. The inside of the pouch is coated with a heat-activated film that sticks to the product your laminating as it runs through the laminator.

Pouch laminating is probably the most common process for home and office use. This is the easiest and most economical method. Laminate pouches and supplies are available in many stock sizes from credit card to a menu size (12″ x 18″). The nice thing about this process is that the pouches are cut to size for you, when the pouch comes out the other side of the laminator it’s done. The down side is some assembly required. You have to assemble the piece that you are coating into the laminate pouch and according to what equipment or system you purchase. You may be required to use a carrier. This helps seal the laminate and protect the rollers.

A pouch laminator is made up of one or two sets of rollers, heating elements, a cooling tray, and a protective housing.

Here are the steps how to use a pouch laminator :

1. Firstly, turn on the heat switch and the run switch. When the indicator light turns off, the laminator is hot enough to begin laminating.
2. Then, take the product to be laminated, position it inside a laminating pouch.
3. Next, slide the laminating pouch into a carrier, and insert the carrier into the front (feed) area of the laminator.
4. The laminator conducts your product over the heating elements, which melt the adhesive inside the laminating pouch. The rollers apply pressure to the heated pouch, encapsulate your product in the laminate, and push the product out to the cooling tray.
5. Finally, you simply slide your finished, laminated product out of the carrier and re-use the carrier for the next piece to be laminated.

There is a temperature gauge in pouch laminator which you can adjust to apply less heat for thin pouches and more heat for thicker pouches. If you have a four-roller pouch laminator, you need only touch the carrier to the nip of the front feed rollers in your machine, and they will conduct the carrier evenly over the heating elements to the back pull rollers, which conduct the carrier out of the laminator. Nevertheless, if you have a two-roller laminator, there are no feed rollers.

What is a Carrier?

The purpose of a carrier is to protect your laminator rollers from any adhesive that may ooze out of a heated laminating pouch. Using a carrier will prolong the life of your laminator.

• A carrier is a folded piece of heavy paper with a special non-stick coating on the inside (shiny side). The coating prevents melted adhesive from sticking to the paper, and the carrier prevents adhesive from getting onto the rollers or other parts of the laminator.
• A carrier also helps to keep your laminated product flat and even, while it is still hot and pliable, as it exits the laminator.
• A carrier can be used over and over, for hundreds of laminations. We provide several carriers with each box of laminating pouches.

It is recommended using a carrier, even with a laminator that has silicon rollers.