If you are in the initial phases of looking for a laminator, you have probably noticed that there are two primary different types of laminators. One type is referred to as a cold laminator and the other as a hot (thermal) laminator. So which style should you go with?

Cold and hot laminators each have their own benefits and disadvantages. About 90 plus percent of the laminators used today are thermal roll laminators. That doesn’t mean that cold laminators are bad, they are just less common. I will go into more detail on the advantages of each format in this article.

COLD LAMINATORS:
(view our cold laminators)

Cold laminators are primarily used for laminating material that is temperature sensitive. This may involve laminating paper with wax-based ink, thermally activated properties or special types of art prints and photographs.

Cold laminators have come a long way over the past few years. Xyron is a great example of a cold laminator manufacturer that makes products capable of producing professional results. One of the biggest disadvantages of cold laminators, in my opinion, is that the film tends to cost more than a hot thermal laminator.

There is a huge range of quality among cold laminators. I have seen some machines that pretty much applied scotch tape to the document with the end results looking pretty sad. Xyron, as far as I’m concerned, gets the job done right the first time.

As a general rule, cold laminated documents will not last as long as hot laminated documents. This is due to the soft nature of the glue used during the cold laminating process.

HOT LAMINATORS:
(view our hot laminators)

Hot laminators, as previously mentioned, are far more common than cold roll laminators. This method of laminating documents has managed to iron out many of the issues associated with thermal laminating. Previous issues used to include cloudy results, bubbles and waves.

Hot laminators are available from literally dozens of different manufacturers and come in hundreds of different designs. This includes both pouch and roll laminators. These laminators, in general, are very easy to set up and use.

If you aren’t laminating temperature sensitive items, I would personally recommend going with a hot laminator. This is due to the availability of machines and the fact that the film is pretty cheap to buy.

CONCLUSION:

Ultimately the machine you get will depend on what you’re laminating, how much you’re laminating and your own personal preference. You can find our entire selection of laminators here. Feel free to call us at 1-800-658-8788 to speak with one of our laminator specialists.

I have spoken with a lot of customers who have roll laminators in need of replacement film. There are a lot of different options out there and most customers simply want the basic, cheapest and most common film available. The most common roll laminator film we offer is our clear glossy film with a 1″ core.

You can find our clear glossy 1″ core laminating film here. This film is available in various mil thicknesses, from 1.5 to 10 mils thick. This film is simple, looks great, is clear and has a glossy finish to it. This is what many people refer to as a NAP I (or NAP 1) film. It works with over 90 percent of the thermal roll laminators out there.

A one-inch core is the most common core size for 25″ and 27″ roll laminators. These are the most common types of laminators used in copy centers, schools and other businesses. You can find our 25″ and 27″ roll laminators here.

We also offer matte laminating film, film with UV protection, cold roll laminating film, Digikote, Bantac and much more. You can find our entire selection of roll laminating film here.

Good luck and happy laminating!

There are few laminators out there capable of handling 10 mil laminating film under $2,000. If you need a sturdy roll laminator that is both affordable and able to handle 10 mil film, you should take a look at the Tamerica TCC2700 27″ roll laminator. We have one of these on our showroom floor and this is my review.

The TCC2700 is made by Tamerica and is often referred to by its old name, the “Tahsin” TCC2700. This laminator is 27-inches wide and is designed to laminate paper, posters, signs and other material. You will find this laminator in schools, print shops and offices.

One of the biggest perks with this laminator is its ability to use laminating film from 1.5 to 10 mils thick. The price is also a huge plus. This is the least expensive roll laminator we offer capable of laminating film up to 10 mils thick. It can also be used to laminate material up to 3/16-inch thick. This laminator uses a 1″ diameter core, which is most common in a laminator of this size.

It is common (and often correct) to think that if something costs less, the quality is less as well. This isn’t the case with the Tamerica TCC2700. This roll laminator has great reputation with our customers and a great track record when it comes to malfunctions and issues.

This laminator handles laminating jobs well. The heated silicon rollers, adjustable temperature and adjustable speed (11″ to 38″ per minute) help the film turn out crystal clear. Heated rollers also help cut down on ripples, waves and bubbles in film.

Not only can this machine be used to laminate larger items, but it can also be used to laminate several smaller items at once. The mandrels can support up to a 1,000-foot roll of 1.5 mil film. That is impressive.

The TCC2700 also features:

• Reverse motor capabilities.
• Film trimmer.
• UL approved.
• Roller separator
• Emergency motor shutoff.
• Ready light with audible alert
• An adjustable feed guide.
• Spring loaded tension knobs.

These features and many others are just a few reasons why the Tamerica TCC2700 may be the right laminator for you. I personally like using it and consider it to be a great deal.

You can find the Tamerica TCC2700 27″ roll laminator here. You can find our entire selection of roll laminators here. Do you still have questions about this machine or other roll laminators? Call us at 1-800-658-8788 to speak with one of our laminating experts.

Are you a school that is in search of a reliable and easy-to-use roll laminator? Finding one that will get the job done and can handle the daily use of a school can be tough. One laminator you should consider is the Ledco Educator 25″ roll laminator. I have used this laminator on several occasions and this is my review.

Ledco is a well-known manufacturer of roll laminating machines. They have been making laminators for decades and have gotten pretty good at it. The Educator roll laminator is the culmination of years of experience and requests.

The people at Ledco explained the creation of the Educator roll laminator to me like this. Over the years, having made a variety of different laminators, they discovered that teachers and educators had specific needs and requests for their laminators. After interviewing several teachers, and taking a lot of feedback into consideration, they came up with the Educator roll laminator.

The Educator is designed with teachers, educators and schools in mind. It was designed this way from the ground up. It is designed to be easy to use, features simple film changes and produces excellent overall results. This includes a preset laminating pressure and speed.

The Educator uses laminating film up to 25″ wide and uses film with a 1″ core diameter. This is the most common size of film available and is able to laminate almost everything educators and teachers need done. It is capable of using lamination film up to 5 mils thick at a speed of 5 feet per minute. It can also be used with 1.5 and 3 mil film.

I have personally loaded film on this laminator and have used it to laminate signs, business cards and other material. It really is one of the easiest laminators I have ever used. It is extremely compact and can be placed on almost any counter or desk. It weighs 75 pounds shipped.

Because teachers don’t always need a laminator to be on, the Educator has been designed to handle being turned on and off throughout the day without suffering any ill effects.

A customer sent this review to us regarding the Educator roll laminator a few months ago:

Works nicely once it is set up properly. I suggest the following method for setting the tension: Hang a weight from the center of the plastic. Adjust the tension until the plastic just starts to unroll. Repeat this for the other roll with the same weight. It is essential that the roll tension be balanced and setting by feel is not accurate enough.

Pros: Built like it will last forever.

Cons: Fills the air with plastic fumes if you leave it on for a long time.

Overall I have to say that this is probably one of the best well-rounded roll laminators in this size, which is probably why it is such a hit with teachers.

You can find the Ledco Educator 25″ roll laminator here. You can find our entire selection of roll laminators here.

Are you looking for an energy efficient roll laminator that not only does a good job, but also uses less electricity? One model you may want to look at is the Banner American Easy-Lam Green roll laminator. This is my review.

To begin with, Banner America is known for making some of the most reliable roll and pouch laminators today. They make a wide variety of Easy-Lam roll laminators and PL series pouch laminators. The company has been around for well over a decade and has developed a great reputation.

The Easy-Lam Green is Banner American’s energy efficient model and is designed to save you money in operating cost. The Easy-Lam Green does this in two ways:

Energy Saving Features

1. While in standby mode, the Easy-Lam Green drops the temperature down from 300 degrees to 150 degrees. Most laminators maintain the maximum temperature the entire time. It only takes seven minutes for the Easy-Lam to go from 150 back to a 300-degree operating temperature.
2. The Easy-Lam Green is designed to shut off after one hour of inactivity. This is a very convenient feature to have on hand. Most laminators will continuously run until they are manually shut off.

Not only does the Easy-Lam green include these energy-saving measures, it is also very easy to use. It is designed to laminate posters, maps, signs, banners and much more. The Easy-Lam Green can be used in schools, print shops, copy shops, churches and more.

The Easy-Lam green is 27-inches wide, which allows it to laminate most common materials. The core size is one-inch in diameter, which is the most common size used today. It comes pre-loaded with two rolls of 1.5-mil thick film and can be used with laminating film up to 3 mils thick.

One thing I really like about the Easy-Lam Green is the built-in LCD readout. It is really easy to see exactly what the temperature is. Many other laminators feature an analog temperature gauge, which I personally find hard to precisely read.

While the Easy-Lam Green is a 110-120 volt machine, it is available in a 220-volt version up on request.

Overall I find the Easy-Lam Green to be right up there in quality when it comes to similar 3 mil laminators in its class and width. If you need something that can use 5 or 10-mil film, you will need something a little heavier duty.

You can find the Banner American Easy-Lam Green roll laminator here. You can find our entire selection of roll laminators here.

Are you looking for a laminator that is hassle free and affordable? One model you may want to consider using is the GBC HeatSeal Ultima 35 EZLoad roll laminator. We have one of these laminators in our showroom and I have had a chance to use it. This is my review.

To begin with, GBC (General Binding Company) has been making laminators for years. One of their most popular lines is the HeatSeal series. This consists of both pouch and roll laminators. One of their newest, and most popular lines, is the EZLoad line of roll laminators.

The biggest selling point for the GBC HeatSeal Ultima 35 EZLoad (try saying that three times fast) is the lamination film. It uses 1.7 to 10 mil Nap-Lam® II roll film that comes in a cartridge.

Unlike other laminators, where you have to load the film onto a mandrel and fish it through the machine, the EZLoad system is as easy as changing out a cartridge on a printer. Simply pop out the old roll of film and put another one in. This also helps cut down on burns. If you’ve used a traditional roll laminator, you know what I mean.

The HeatSeal Ultima 35 EZLoad is designed to laminate documents up to12-inches wide. It runs at a speed of 36-inches a minute. That’s not blazing fast, but it isn’t bad compared to other roll laminators in its class. The Ultima 35 EZLoad is designed for daily use in schools, churches and businesses.

The main focus of this laminator is ease-of use, and easy it is. After about one minute your up and running, which is pretty fast. It even includes a built in trimmer that can be used to cut off material as it exits the laminator.

If the laminator isn’t being used, it will automatically shut off. Not only is this a nice safety feature, but it saves energy as well.

The control interface on the HeatSeal Ultima 35 EZLoad is very simple and easy to use. There is a button to turn the laminator on, another with forward / reverse functions and a dial for temperature control.

The only downside I can think of is that the film is proprietary. You can’t order normal rolls of laminating film. You have to use the GBC EZLoad film cartridges, which cost more than normal one-inch core film. This is a sacrifice many people are willing to make fore easy operation.

The HeatSeal Ultima 35 EZLoad is available in a larger model called the GBC Pinnacle 27 EZLoad found here.

Overall I am impressed with this compact roll laminator. The build quality is great and it should easily last several years.

You can find our GBC HeatSeal Ultima 35 EZLoad roll laminator here. You can find our entire selection of thermal roll laminators here.

So you have a roll laminator and now need some replacement film for it. So what size core should you get? There are three common sizes available. This includes one-inch, 2 ¼-inch and three inch. Here are a few ways to get the right film for your laminator.

The easiest way is to simply measure the inner diameter of the hole on your old roll lamination film. Unfortunately this isn’t always an option. Often times the old rolls are no longer around or the person that used to buy the film is no longer with the company.

Another way to determine the size of film you need is to measure the mandrel. The mandrel is the rod that the roll film is slid onto. A one-inch mandrel is pretty easy to spot out. The 2 ¼ or three-inch mandrel may require you to break out the tape measure.

As a general rule, roll laminators that fall within the 25 to 27-inch wide range use a one-inch core. The one-inch core diameter is the most common size used today.

Larger roll laminators (30-inches plus) typically use a wider core. This is because the wider film usually requires more stability.

What if you have a one-inch mandrel on your laminator but the film you want to use is only available with a larger 2 ¼ or three-inch core? Some laminator manufacturers make core adapters that will allow you to use a larger core film with a smaller mandrel.

Still not sure what film you need to use with your laminator? Call one of our specialists at 1-800-658-8788. Are you in need of a core adapter for your roll laminator? Contact our Service Department at 1-800-658-8788 x129.

You can find our entire selection of roll lamination film here.  You can find our entire selection of roll laminators here.

I had a customer ask me the other day how long it takes a laminator to warm up. This is a tough question to answer because of all the variables involved. It is almost like asking how long it takes a “car” to go from 0 to 60. It all depends on the make and model.

I have come up with a list of basic rough estimates with regards to laminator warm-up times.

Entry-level roll or pouch laminators will typically take anywhere from 8-15 minutes to warm up. This is because the heating elements are cheaper to make and simply aren’t as efficient.

Mid-level laminators typically warm up in 5-8 minutes, which isn’t bad at all. These laminators will typically handle most everything people need to laminate. Mid-level laminators can handle low to medium-volume laminating.

High-level laminators can often warm up in as little as 1-5 minutes, which is phenomenal. These laminators use high-efficiency and high-quality heating elements to get the job done. These laminators are typically designed for medium to high-volume laminating and can be used throughout the day.

Keep in mind that these are estimates and will not always be the case with your laminator. You can find our entire selection of laminating machines here. Happy laminating!

We’ve all been to restaurants and have all handled and used the menu. While not always the case, most restaurant menus consist of a single folded 11 x 17 sheet of paper or an 11 x 17 sheet of paper cut in half. Restaurant menus have soda spilled on them, dipping sauce smeared all over them, experience chicken wing accidents and much more. So how do menus endure daily abuse and use? They are laminated.

Laminating film makes a menu easy to clean off, prevents liquid damage and gives menus the rigidity they need to keep from tearing. So what are the best laminators to use for laminating a menu? There are two ways to do this. You will either want to use a pouch laminator or a roll laminating machine.

If you are using a pouch laminator, you will want to use a large 12 x 18 –inch pouch (found here). Place the printing menu inside the pouch and run it through the laminator. Once laminated, the menu can be creased or bound for use. Often times the menu isn’t folded or bound, but left as a single sheet. The slightly larger pouch will allow for a small overlapped border around the menu. If you don’t like this, it can be easily trimmed off.

If you are using a roll laminating machine, you can often laminate two menus simultaneously. This can be easily done if you are using a roll laminating machine that is 25-inches or wider. Once laminated, the menu can be trimmed down using a rotary trimmer. The most common roll film our customers use for menus can be found here.

Roll laminators are typically better for high-volume laminating, but I have found that more restaurants use a pouch laminator for menus.  The thickness of film used will depend on the restaurant’s preference. The higher the mil thickness, the thicker the film will be. A mil is one-thousandth of an inch. I probably wouldn’t go with anything thinner than 5 mils thick.

While not completely necessary, many of our customers also like to use a corner rounder to round the corners on the menus. This makes the menu less dangerous (pointy corners = ouch) and makes the menus look nice.

Here is a list of what you may need for your restaurant menu:

• Pouch Laminator or Roll Laminator
• Pouch Laminating Film or Roll Laminating Film
• Rotary Paper Trimmer
• Corner Rounder
• Paper Creaser

Good luck with your menus! We have a lot of people that do this, so don’t feel too overwhelmed. The end results will look great!

So you’re on a budget, the money and funds aren’t available, yet you desperately need a roll laminator. A few years ago I would have told you “sorry,” but not anymore. With the introduction of the Easy-Lam School Budget roll laminator, this is no longer an issue. In the 10 years I have been in this industry, I have never seen a roll laminator this affordable.

Banner American has been around for years and are known for making some of the best laminators we sell. They make the popular PL12A pouch laminator and the Easy-Lam series of roll laminators. This new roll laminator is a chip off the old block.

So are there any sacrifices made with this new low-cost roll laminator? There are a couple, but none that will affect most schools, print shops and other businesses. The laminator is fairly simple in its design. It is a little slower than most roll laminators and it can only handle film up to 3 mils thick. It can still be used to laminate posters, signs and maps, but is not designed for high-volume use.

Overall I will have to say that I am pleased with the quality of the Easy-Lam School Budget. The film is turning out well and the pictures I have laminated look great. I haven’t heard of any quality issues or returns with regards to this laminator.

If you need a roll laminator and are strapped for cash, I would seriously consider getting this laminator. You can find our Banner American Easy-Lam School Budget roll laminator here.