Everyone wants their laminators to work perfectly regardless of the cost or the working condition of the laminator. Laminators are devices that help you preserve your documents or image by putting a plastic seal on your device when you run it through the pouches. Most people laminate documents such as report cards, images, id cards, posters, films, and a lot more with their laminators.
It is important for you to know that there are two major types of laminators if you plan on getting a laminating device. The two major types are hot laminators and cold laminators.
The cold laminators are machines that don’t use heat when doing a laminate. They use mainly pressure and apply them to the edges of your documents with binding adhesives to ensure that they stick and come out perfectly. These are used for objects that can be easily ruined by heat.
The hot laminators or heat laminators are the common ones you can find in public places, officers, houses, schools etc. They are machines that use a combination of heat and pressure when doing a laminate. They are also called Thermal laminators and they come in different sizes and capabilities.
One thing cuts across most types of thermal laminators you can find which are pouches. Every thermal laminator makes use of pouches in doing a laminate.
How do thermal laminator pouches work
This is one common question you might have when you want to use your laminating machine.
Laminator pouches work in various ways. They serve as a seal for your documents or objects when you want to laminate. Below are ways to use a laminating pouch.
- Firstly, make sure your object fits inside the pouch and doesn’t extrude the edges. It is important that your pouch is bigger than the documents you want to laminate or seal as a smaller pouch might not give you a good result. Pouches come in various sizes from 3ml, 5ml, 7ml and even 10ml. They also come in various thickness levels. However, you should know not that it’s not Every time their sizes are proportional to their thickness.
- All laminating pouches have rounded corners. This is to ensure the neatness of your object and also to ensure it is properly sealed. Some pouches even come with side slots to make it handier.
- Using a lamination pouch is relatively easy. Firstly, open your pouch and insert the object you plan to laminate. You should ensure all the edges are even
- You can then place the pouch into the carrier so they open the same way. Put the pouch in place and slide the carrier into the thermal pouch’s laminator. When it’s done, you can remove the carrier and unveil your new beautiful laminated object.
The process listed above is exactly how a thermal laminator works. When working perfectly, it gives a beautiful result and the process is seamless as it doesn’t require any stress. However, there can be some problems from time to time with your laminator’s pouch which could hinder it from giving you the perfect result you desire. One of such problems which you might have experienced or might be experiencing is your thermal laminator’s pouch folding when you try to laminate a document or object.
Why is my pouch folding? What could be the reason? How can I solve this problem? You might ask.
Below are possible reasons why your thermal laminator’s pouch keeps folding and how you can solve the problem.
Reasons why your thermal laminator’s pouch keeps folding
The thickness of the pouch
The thickness of your pouch could be a reason why your thermal laminator’s pouch keeps folding when you use it. A lot of people believe a pouch thickness is synonymous with the size of the pouch. Ie, they believe the larger the pouch, the thicker the pouch should be. Hence they use pouches at any temperature they wish simply because of the large size. This is very wrong as not every large pouch has a high thickness level. The thickness of your pouch could be a reason why your pouch keeps folding or curling.
- Solution
The solution to this particular problem is very simple. All it requires is a simple check and a change of mindset or ideology. Firstly, You’ll have to do without the belief that a pouch’s thickness is proportional with its size. There are some 3mil pouch or some 5mil pouch which are thicker than some 10 mil pouch. Once you understand this, you’ll make a habit of checking the thickness of the pouch before putting it through your laminating machine. Confirming the thickness of the pouch to know how to run it through your laminator is a good way to stop or prevent your pouch from folding.
Temperature or heat
This is one common mistake almost everyone makes with their thermal laminator. When using your device, if the temperature is set too high, there’s a very high probability the pouch would curl or fold when coming out. This would in turn ruin the perfect result or outcome you desire. A lot of people tend to set their temperature too high with the excuse or expectation that they want the laminator to work much faster or they want the laminate to be much thicker than normal. Setting your thermal laminator’s temperature too high can cause your pouch to fold or curl.
- Solution
The solution, just like the first solution listed above, is also relatively easy. Firstly, you’ll have to do away with the mindset that the higher the temperature or heat, the quicker your laminate will be done or the thicker your laminate can become. To stop your thermal pouch from curling or folding, you’ll have to ensure the temperature or heat isn’t set at a very high temperature. If it is, you’ll have to reduce the temperature to correspond with the level of heat needed to make a good laminate according to the thickness of the pouch you use.
You might also have a lot of questions about your laminator such as what do laminator pouches do? What are they made of? What is the difference between laminating pouches and sheets?
Thermal laminator pouches are good for the protection of documents such as I’d cards, photos, posters etc.
Most pouches are made from polyester and adhesives. Although, they tend to have more polyester content than adhesive content as it makes them much stronger, stiff and makes Sure your laminates bind in a better and thicker way. Laminating sheets are also known as laminating pouches. People tend to make the mistake of assuming they are different from laminating pouches. They are actually a type of laminating pouches as there are different types of laminating pouches in the market today.
To a lot of people, thermal laminators with their pouches are much better than cold laminators as they give you the opportunity to have a neater and stronger laminate of your objects or documents. Thermal laminator pouches can fold from time to time due to the possible reasons listed above. However, you do not need to worry as the solutions listed above would stop your pouch from folding and give you the perfect and neat outcome that would put a smile on your face while you laminate those documents