Beginner Guide To Laminators

Thermal Lamination

The laminate usually consists of 2 plies with each ply made up of an overlaminate film and an adhesive, which is dry and not tacky to the touch. A heat source and pressure are required during the lamination process. The document is placed between the two plies of the laminate film and then sent through equipment where the dry adhesive is made tacky by heat and is pressed onto the document under high pressure. After cooling, the adhesive solidifies and provides a permanent bond between the document and laminate film.

The main features of thermal laminating machine are :

• The machine needs an experienced operator to set the machine such as roller adjustment and speed of lamination to achieve desired results.
• The machine can produce result in a high contrast image which can be very striking.
• The machine can produce image that is fairly stiff when compared with an image that has been cold laminated. This is particularly important for laminating a poster.

Cold Lamination

Cold lamination is a process in which only one side of a document is laminated. This laminating process is required when the ink and/or paper used for a document is too sensitive to the heat required with thermal lamination. The film used for cold lamination is much more costly than for thermal lamination, but the equipment is less expensive. One method of cold lamination utilizes a process where no dry adhesive is used as in thermal lamination. The surface of a document is flooded with a water-soluble adhesive. It is then sent through a set of rollers with the laminating film rolled onto the top of the document and the adhesive. Pressure is applied which evenly distributes the adhesive and bonds the film to the document. The adhesive takes a bit longer to cure than thermal lamination and lighter stocks can wrinkle or warp because of the water based adhesive. Cold lamination may not be as permanent as thermal lamination.

The main features of cold laminating machine are :

• The machine is easier to operate.
• The machine can do the job at a decent speed as the set up time is much lower. There is no need to wait for the machine to warm up as compared to thermal laminating machine.
• In terms of safety, cold lamination machine is better as there is absolutely no chance of anyone getting burned by high temperature lamination.
• The machine required lower maintenance as compared to thermal laminating machine. This is because the thermal laminating machine needs to be cleaned frequently to ensure good results.