Laminating your documents is a good way to preserve them. People laminate documents such as images, receipts, posters, films, etc to make it more presentable over a much longer period of time.
People laminate documents for various reasons. While some laminate them to make them last much longer, others laminate them or run their objects through a laminator to beautify them. This is mostly done using a foil while laminating. Here, the laminator helps you to apply different designs to your object by heating it up and making sure your graphics stick when it passes through your machine.
There are a lot of laminators you can find in the market today. They come with different features, specifications, sizes, capabilities and prices.
A typical example of the fact that laminators come in different capabilities is the comparison between office/ home laminators and the industrial laminators. The industrial laminators use more power, more heat, work much faster and are most expensive compared to the office or home laminators.
As stated earlier, there are different types of laminators you can find in the market today, however, there are two major types of laminators people use when it comes to laminating documents, they are the hot laminators and the cold laminators.
Don’t get me wrong, it doesn’t mean there are no other types of laminators, it simply means the hot or cold laminators are the most common ones you’ll likely see when you visit people’s offices, homes or hang out in a public setting.
“What are hot laminators? What are cold laminators? How do they work? You might ask
Follow me as I explain the concept of hot and cold laminators, how they work and which of them is best for laminating your documents.
- What are hot laminators and cold laminators
Hot laminators are usually the most common type of laminators you can find in the market today. They tend to use a heat of between 180 to 300 degrees to laminate documents. The major components hot laminators are heat, polythene and adhesive.
You might be wondering how a hot laminator works and the processes behind it.
The hot laminators work in a simple and straightforward way. When using the laminator, the first thing you’ll have to do is heat your device a little. After heating it, you’ll put the object you want to laminate inside a pouch and run it through your laminating machine. The pouch laminator laminates the object as you run it through it.
- Cold laminators
Cold laminators on the other hand are similar and different from the pouch laminators at the same time.
In a simplified version, cold laminators are laminators that do not use heat when laminating your object. The major components of a cold laminator are pouch, rollers etc.
” How does cold lamination work?” You might ask
This is relatively easy. The cold lamination works with pressure and adhesive. When you’ve kept your object inside a pouch with adhesive at the edges, you’ll then run it through your cold laminator. Your cold laminator will then use pressure and adhesive to laminate your documents or object. This is best for documents which can be ruined by heat.
“Which is the better one I can use? Which is best for laminating documents? Which is the faster one of the two? You might ask
- Which is better; hot or cold laminators
This is one question that goes across the mind of everyone when it comes to choosing the one that’s best for them. Do you go for the hot laminators? Do you go for the cold laminators? Which is best for you?
The Answers to these questions depend entirely on you. You might be wondering how it does. Well, this is simple. The functions you want your laminators to perform and the type of documents you want to laminate will determine the type of laminator that Is best for you between the hot laminators and the cold laminators.
The following are categories you can use to decide the laminator that is best for you.
- Cost
This is one factor to consider when you want to buy a laminator. If you’re buying a laminator depending on the cost, the amount you budget or the amount you’re willing to sacrifice will determine if the hot or cold laminator Is best for you. The hot laminators are usually more expensive than the cold laminator. This is because the hot laminators usually come with more features. If you’re looking for laminators that perform basic functions and are not too expensive, the cold laminator is your best bet.
- Document
The type of documents you want to laminate is also another determining factor to consider when you want to choose between the hot or cold laminators. There are different types of documents such as images, posters etc and each of them requires a different level of heat when you intend laminating them.
This is where the choice between the hot or cold laminators comes in. If you want to laminate normal documents that doesn’t react to heat, the hot laminators are your best bet as it would use the heat to laminate the object or documents. However, if the documents you want to laminate are heat sensitive, that is, if your documents react to heat, the cold laminator is the device best suited for you.
The cold laminator is specially made for documents which are reactive to heat. Its adhesive and rollers ensures enough pressure is kept on the pouch in order to make the object evenly and properly laminated.
If you’re laminating documents that are not heat sensitive, the hot laminators are your best bet. However, if you’re laminating documents where are sensitive or reactive to heat, it’s advisable you go for the cold laminators.
- Graphics and designs
This is also another factor that could influence your choice of laminator between the hot and cold laminators. If you want to use the deco foil to beautify your documents, you’ll have to forget about the cold laminators as deco foil needs heat before it can stick to your documents or object. The hot laminators are your best bet when you intend running a deco foil through a laminator.
People tend to have a lot of questions when it comes to hot or cold laminators. Below is a possible questions you might have when it comes to cold lamination.
- Can I use a cold laminating film without machine
The answer is yes. It Is very possible for you to use a cold laminating film without machine. There have been lots of complaints about people not having laminators, hence, lots of companies have created a self sealing laminating pouch for you to use for your documents. With these new pouches, you do not need a laminating machine anymore.
Choosing between a hot or cold laminator can be confusing sometimes especially when you want to laminate documents that are reactive or non reactive. The best bet however is to get a thermal laminator which has all the possible features you will need.
There are some thermal laminators which has both the hot lamination and cold lamination feature. With laminators like these, you can not only laminate documents that are reactive or non reactive to heat, you can also run your foil through the laminator and achieve the graphic designs you desire.