How do you choose a laminator?
Choose laminator
There are many different types of laminators. Which one you choose depends on a few things. Ask yourself the following:
- Which size do you want to laminate?
- Do you want to laminate hot or cold?
- Which laminating sheet thickness do you want to use?
- How often do you want to laminate?
Which size do you want to laminate?
Max A4 size
Do you only want to laminate A4 documents or smaller? An A4 laminator is enough. This allows you to laminate up to an A4 size. You can also laminate smaller sizes like photos, business cards, and birthday cards.
Max A3 size
With an A3 laminator, you can laminate up to an A3 size. This allows you to laminate documents and large papers. Think of posters, brochures, and flyers. AA3 laminators are also suitable for smaller sizes, like A4 and A5.
Do you want to laminate hot or cold?
It's important to know if you have a hot or cold laminator. Some laminators only have a hot or cold setting, some have both. Warm laminating is suitable for documents with water-based ink, screen prints, photos, brochures, and cards. Use cold laminating for vinyl, thermal paper, or paper with oil-based ink. A cold laminator uses different laminating sheets made of PVC. These sheets block UV light, so your document doesn't discolor. This makes cold laminating suitable if you want to hang something outside.
Which laminating sheet thickness do you want to use?
Laminating sheets are available in various thicknesses, expressed in micrometer or micron. The thinnest covers are 75 micron and the thickest are 350 micron. The thicker the laminating sheet, the better it protects your document. A thickness of 75 or 80 micron is often enough for simple papers and documents. Do you want to hang something outside? You need a sheet with a thickness of at least 250 micron. It differs per laminator which laminating sheet thickness you should use. Check beforehand for which thicknesses a laminator is suitable.
How often do you want to laminate?
Also consider how often you want to use your laminator. Laminators often laminate 1 page per minute. Do you want to laminate multiple documents after each other? Choose a device with a higher laminate speed. A laminator also needs time to heat up before you can use it. This warm-up time differs per device between 60 seconds and 4 minutes. The shorter the warm-up time, the sooner you can get started.
