Back to articles
The most common type of laminator for home or business is the pouch laminator.
Machines vary in the sizes they are able to handle, from small business cards up to A3 size or more on specialised machines. Laminators use shaped “pockets” that are coated with a heat-activated film that adheres to the product being laminated. The document is placed in the pocket and fed into the machine. Heated rollers adhere the film to the document.
Pocket or “pouch” laminators are the simplest of all laminating machines to use and are an ideal first laminating machine. Pouch Laminators also tend to be the cheapest machines to buy.
The pockets are relatively cheap to buy and effectively seal your documents making them splash proof and more resilient to damage and crumpling etc. Pouch Laminators are designed for standard office and home use but offices where large volumes of laminating need to be done should look to invest in a roll laminator. Heat-sensitive items should not be laminated in a normal pouch laminator as they could be damaged, instead you should use a cold pouch laminator. Cold pouch laminators use pressure to apply an adhesive to the seal thereby enclosing your documents.
Pocket laminators easily protect documents and are relatively inexpensive. Handouts, menus, book covers, reference & business cards, or even children’s artwork can all be easily preserved through the use of a laminator.
When choosing a pouch laminator for your office or home it is important to remember that the more you pay the better the quality of the machine you are likely to get. It is also important to buy good quality pockets and accessories as you may buy a very expensive laminator only to be let down by poor laminating pouches that split or blister.
Laminated pockets and film available with different types of corners and variable thicknesses measured in micrometers (or MIC). Standard home or office machines usually use 80-250 micrometer pouches. Thicker pouches are normally more expensive but you should always check that your machine can seal thicker pouches as extra heat will be required.