Laminating has become so common today that almost everyone does this. It is, of course, necessary when you want to protect important documents and papers. If you are into anything that involves paper, I believe you should have a laminator around.
Laminators are as important as computers and printers. If a paper is printed and isn’t laminated, you’re simply making an impression that you don’t care about it. Think of laminating as insurance; However, in the case of laminating, your document will not even get damaged.
Nowadays, you can find a laminator almost everywhere, in offices, schools, classrooms, etc. Everyone now sees how much paper should be protected instead of printing new ones after one is damaged; this could even bring about pollution.
Before you get or purchase a laminator, there are so many factors you should consider, including the size of paper that can go through the laminator. You can find A2, A3, and A4-sized laminators; however, A4 laminators are the most common.
You can use A4 laminators to laminate items that are A4 sized and below like A5, A6, passports, ID cards, etc. A3 Laminators are not as common as A4 laminators but can be found in bigger institutions. They can be used to laminate A3-sized items.
A2 Laminators, however, are the least common of the three categories. They are famous for industrial use; therefore, you won’t find them in a domestic setting or small offices. These kinds of laminators are usually more significant in size and can laminate different items simultaneously.
So Basically, everyone uses A4 laminators since most of the items they laminate fall in this bracket. However, your needs might grow with time, and you will need to laminate a paper bigger than the size of your laminator. When this happens, what most of us think is to purchase a new laminator that fits the size of whatever you want to laminate.
What if I told you there is really no reason to purchase another laminator or go about borrowing from colleagues. With your laminator, you can laminate a bigger paper by following a simple procedure.
How Do I laminate A bigger sized Paper With A Laminator?
Doing this is relatively easy; however, you have to follow due process. Firstly, you should turn on your laminator and allow it to warm up. Ensure it reaches the standard preheat and warm up time before you begin laminating.
Once your laminator is ready to laminate, it will display a green-ready color. Get the paper you want to laminate and fold it in half. Since the laminator will not take the full size, you can simply fold it in half and put it through the laminator.
Now you might wonder how to get your document back in standard shape after laminating; this is quite easy. When your laminated paper exits the laminator, use scissors to trim the edge of the paper that encloses the other side of it. Doing this will open up the other side of the paper, which has not been laminated yet.
So now, you have one part of your document already laminated; you need to repeat the same process to laminate the other side. To do this, simply turn the paper into half as you did initially; but this time, the side that has not been laminated should be outside.
Now, you can put the document through the laminator and wait for its exit. As soon as it is out, trim the edge of the closure to expose the other laminated side of the paper. Now, you should have a fully laminated document.
You can attest that you don’t need to own the perfect-sized laminator to laminate your documents. Bigger-sized laminators cost higher, so why buy when you can easily improvise with what you have. The only issue you might have with this method is folding your document.
How Do You Laminate Large Posters At Home?
Posters are usually bigger-sized objects that might need A2 laminators to get laminated. Depending on the size of the poster, it might be impossible to use the method above to get laminated. If you fold the poster in half and it still does not enter the laminator, then you should discontinue the process.
There is another way that you can laminate bigger sized items like posters without making use of laminators. The method is also economical and can be done by anyone. All you have to do is follow a simple procedure.
For this method, you will need a pressing iron, an old t-shirt, and laminating pouches or sheets. Most times, laminating sheets are used for posters instead of pouches. You can, however, choose which one suits your needs best.
Firstly, plug your iron in and let it heat up. I will advise you to switch it to its lowest heat setting. Prepare a flat surface where you can lay your poster without bending or folding. Place your paper or poster and fix the laminating sheet on it; this might take time, depending on the size of the item.
Once you are done with it, place your old t-shirt on the part of the poster(You can begin from the edges). Then place the pressing iron on the t-shirt and move it slowly. You should ensure the heat gets down to the laminating sheets, but not directly.
If you notice that the heat is too low to seal it to the poster, you can increase the iron’s heat setting, but you should do that slowly. You should not begin the procedure with a high setting, no matter the item you plan to laminate.
Ensure you cover the whole face of the poster with the laminating sheets. Turn over and repeat the same process for the other part. Depending on your choices, you might decide to only laminate one part of your paper or poster. The option is yours to make.
Conclusion
If you are laminating a paper bigger than your laminator, there are some things you might want to watch out for. Firstly, I will advise that you use laminator pouches or sheets that are larger than the items you want to laminate.
Remember that you will do some cutting after laminating; therefore, you should have enough sheets to cut, so you don’t end up cutting your paper with it. Any little mistake in cutting could render your whole document useless.
Also, it would help if you avoided thick laminating sheets when doing this. Considering the fact that you will be bending the paper into two parts, it might be slightly challenging to enter the laminator using thick laminating sheets. So, if you can stay away from them, please do.