If you like to scrapbook, chances are that you also like to create many of your own crafts and decorations. One of the most popular tools we offer for scrapbooking, other than paper cutters, is our Xyron laminators. These affordable little machines have many benefits. I’ll explain.

To begin with, Xyron laminators are completely manual and require no power to operate. This is ideal, especially when you want to break out the scrapbooking tools but don’t want to necessarily sit next to a power outlet. Xyron laminators operate by use of a crank lever located on the side of the machine. This allows you to laminate photos, paper and other material at your own speed.

Xyron laminators are technically what’s known in the industry as a roll laminator. This means that they typically use two rolls of film, one on the top and another on the bottom. These two rolls work together to fully laminate a product.

One of the biggest hassles of a roll laminator is having to remove spent rolls and insert new rolls. This isn’t a problem with Xyron laminators. Xyron uses special cartridges. Just pop out the used cartridge and insert a new one. Film changes literally take just seconds to complete.

The biggest scrapbooking benefit Xyron laminators offer is their amazing selection of cartridges. You can get acid-free laminating cartridges, matte finish cartridges, single-sided laminating cartridges and even adhesive cartridges that allow you to create your own stickers.

The ability to create stickers is a feature many scrabookers have told me they really enjoy. Xyron laminators, when using the correct cartridge, can create stickers that are laminated or simply stickers that have adhesive on the back. This can be used to create your own stickers or even simply to apply adhesive to the back of a photo for insertion into photo albums.

The combination of laminating possibilities is pretty impressive. There are several models available, depending on the size of the object you want to laminate.

You can find our entire selection of xyron laminators here and our xyron laminating cartridges here.

Cold laminators are less common now than they used to be. Advances in hot lamination technology have allowed hot laminators to claim the bulk market share. So are cold laminators obsolete? Is there still a need for them?

While it’s true that hot laminators have ironed out the wrinkles (literally) in its technology, there is still a place for cold laminators. Cold laminators are still the technology of choice for laminating temperature sensitive documents. This includes documents with wax-based ink, organic material, some types of photographs and more.

Another advantage of cold laminators is the electricity involved. Most cold laminators use very little electricity, with some cold laminators requiring no electricity at all. This means you can use a cold laminator, such as a Xyron laminator, almost anywhere.

There is less mess and cleanup involved with a cold laminator. Because there is no hot sticky glue involved, cold roll laminators don’t experience messy rollers. Cold laminators are also safer to use. This isn’t to say hot laminators are dangerous, but you won’t experience the risk of being burned with a cold laminator.

The most popular line of cold laminators is Xyron. Most Xyron laminators are powered by use of a hand crank. They use lamination cartridges, which eliminate the hassle of having to feed lamination film around bars and rollers. Xyron laminators are commonly used (especially by scrap bookers) to create stickers, laminate photographs, single sided lamination and much more.

You can find our entire selection of Xyron cold laminators here. You can find our entire selection of Xyron lamination cartridges here. Have fun laminating!