Everyone likes a good laminate for their documents as anything less than perfect will not only deny them the outcome they desire, it would also ruin the optimal satisfaction they tend to benefit from doing a laminate.
Laminating documents and objects is just like a culture, it is seen as a normal way of life.
When you put your documents inside a pouch and run it through a laminator with the hopes of sealing the pouch and edges, you’re simply laminating or getting involved in a lamination process.
Different people laminate different documents at different times. The most popular documents you might see people laminating are images, I’d cards, postercards, etc. These are the objects more people tend to run through the laminator.
A lot of people laminate for different reasons. While some laminate because it’s part of their office expectation or work, other laminate because they have a passion for things relating to laminators. Some people also laminate because they derive fun from running objects through the laminator. Laminating is a very easy process that can be done by almost everyone. There’s nothing complicated when it comes to doing a laminate.
If you want to do a laminate, there are a lot of things you need to consider. The things you need to consider influence the quality of your laminate. If you want to do a laminate, the type of laminator you plan using Is very important. Do you intend using the industrial laminators or do you prefer using the office or home laminators? What type of laminators do you use, the hot or cold laminators? What objects are you laminating? What is the size of the pouch? All these are factors you need to consider when you want to do a laminate.
Another important factor you need to consider when you want to do a laminate is the thickness level of the pouch. This goes a very long way in affecting the type of result you get when you’re done doing a laminate.
“How does the thickness level of a pouch determine the outcome of my laminate? What is the right thickness level? What does 3 mil mean on a laminator?” You might ask.
Follow me as I answer all your questions by explaining pouch thickness and what the 3 mil means on a laminator
- What the 3 mil mean on a laminator
The thickness of your pouch when you want to laminate is a very important thing you need to consider. There are different pouches for different objects and each pouch has it’s own level of thickness. There are different levels of pouch thickness from 1.5 mil to 3 ml, it even goes as high as 10ml depending on the level of thickness.
“What does this level of thickness mean?” You might ask
Laminating films are done in different levels of thickness, ranging from thin and flexible to rigid and thick. The term “mil” actually refers to the total measurement of plastic and adhesive within one layer of a laminating film. It is usually expressed in thousandth of an inch which is 0.001.
In simple terms, laminating pouches or films come in different level of thickness for different types of documents. One of the common of the common level of thickness people use when doing a basic lamination is the 3 mil which can be converted or translated as 0.001 multiplied by 3. This gives you 0.003 but people prefer to call it 3 mil for short.
The 3ml on your laminator is simply the measure of the thickness of the film or pouch when you want to do a laminate
“What type of documents can I laminate using this 3 mil level of thickness?” You might ask
There are certain documents that is best used with the 3 mil level of thickness. The 3 mil is not meant for laminating all types of documents. There are some documents which would definitely require a much lesser level of thickness and there are a lot of documents that will likely use a thickness more than the 3 mil level of thickness.
Below are documents you can laminate using the 3mil level of thickness.
- Classroom posters
This is one document you can laminate using the 3 mil. The 3mil is best for laminating flexible objects which you don’t carry about too much. A good example is the classroom poster you can find in different schools
- Maps
This is also another document you can laminate using the 3 mil. The 3 mil provides adequate protection for some documents and also gives enough flexibility for the documents to be folded despite being sealed.Maps can be sealed and folded at the same time. Maps are one of the documents you can laminate with a 3 mil.
- Food menu
Food menus are one of the documents you can laminate using the 3 mil. It is actually one of the common laminates you can see which uses the 3 mil. When you go out to eat at most restaurants and the food menu is given to you, you’ll notice that the menu is sealed at both sides or protected at both sides. This will make the documents look new and preserve it over a much longer period of time.
- Any foldable document
If your documents are foldable and you want to keep it so even after laminating, the 3 mil level of thickness is what is best for you. With the 3 mil level of thickness, you’ll not only be able to preserve your documents, you’ll also be able to keep them in their foldable state. Foldable documents such as pages for a manual or handbook, wall posters etc are best laminated using the 3 mil.
When it comes to laminators and the entire process of lamination, people tend to have a lot of questions as there are a couple things they might not understand. Are There any other levels of thickness? How thick can something be laminated? All these questions and more are what a lot of people have in mind when they want to do a laminate.
Below is a frequently asked question you might have about laminators
Frequently asked question
- Are there any other level of thickness
There are different levels of thickness for different documents you might be laminating. There are thickness levels of 1.5 mil which are for very light documents while the 3 mil is for foldable documents. There is also the 5 mil which can also be used for foldable documents. The 5 mil lamination is usually sturdy. There’s also the 7 mil and even the 10 mil to 15 mil. This high level of thickness is for documents which require a high level of thickness and not for documents such as sheets, photos or recipes.
The level of thickness when it comes to laminating plays an important role in the the type of outcome you get. There are different levels of thickness needed for different documents. One of the common level of thickness people use is the 3 mil. The 3 mil is the right amount of thickness you need if you want to laminate foldable documents such as photos, menus, class posters and other light objects that doesn’t require a high level of thickness.