Laminating Process: What is Lamination?

So, What exactly is Lamination?

The process of applying a film of plastic on the surface of any item is known as laminating. When plastic coating is added to any item it becomes tear-proof and waterproof, since the laminating film encapsulates the item completely by being bonded to both its sides.

What are the Items that Benefit from Laminating?

There are many items that benefit from lamination. For example, many types of paper documents are laminated in order to protect them from smudges, fingerprints, and other types of damage. Sometimes lamination is done in order to enhance the contrast and color of the item.

Lamination can benefit items like menus, identification cards, instruction printed on paper, or any other item that is handles frequently. Lamination helps in keeping materials as good as new for many years, increasing the durability as well as preserving the color. In fact, laminated paper can be gifted, without requiring any additional frames or support.

Laminating Machines

The laminating process is quite simple, although its development was not easy. Laminating machines these days are products of decades of perfection and refinement, which has resulted in producing two of the most common types of lamination processes: the Pouch Laminating Machine and the Roll Laminating Machine.

Pouch Laminating Machine: Pouch Laminating Machines are meant for home use or moderately if used in the office. These are inexpensive machines and are quite effective.

Also known as Pouch Laminators, in these machines a lamination pouch is used which is generally affixed on one side. A heat-activated film lines the inside of the lamination pouch which adheres to the item being laminated as it is run through the laminating machine. The board’s substrate side consists of a heat-activated adhesive, which helps in bonding the print on to the substrate. This can be any type of board or could even be another laminating sheet. The pouch, which contains the substrate, laminate, and print is put through heated rollers with pressure applied to it, which insures that each adhesive layer bond well together.

The pouches are available in various thicknesses, which are measured in micrometers. The standard sizes used in office or home machines are usually 80 to 250 micrometer pouches, which depends on the type of the machine. The thicker the size of the pouch, the more expensive it is.

Certain types of pouches, like the butterfly pouch, are used to make ID cards. They also come with embedded magnetic stripes.

Roll Laminating Machine: This machine can be used to preserve and protect a wide variety of documents between the sheets of laminating film. These machines are available in a wide range, from those specially designed for schools to heavy-duty machines used in industrial settings or commercial purposes. The commercial types of these laminating machines come in many kinds of format sizes to meet the requirements of in-house graphic departments, business service centers, print shops, copy shops, and so on. Roll laminating machines meant for schools can provide a cost effective way of preserving teaching materials and even the work of students. Designed for flexibility, quality, and convenience, roll laminating machines have various features like adjustable control of heat, variable control of speed, adjustable tension, and automatic shut down.

Amongst the various supplies required for laminating, one of the most important is the film. They come in a wide range of varieties such as delustered and clear. Delustered film has a non-glare matte finish, which is highly suitable for reading material. The clear film used in laminating is the most popular, since it provides a sheen finish and helps to enhance the colors.

By using a high-quality laminating machine, you can protect and preserve your important papers and documents.