Category: laminating

What is the best roll laminator?

It’s all about the features of the machine! Popp offers four excellent choices for thermal 27″ roll laminators. These systems are reliable and capable of handling any project, small or large. Our units come with a range of user friendly control panels. The TCC2700 & Phoenix 2700DH are cost effective solutions for school, office, copy or prints shops. Their tabletop design is great for small working areas. The Prolam R27 is a heavy-duty laminator that is a versatile workhorse that can handle all of your most demanding jobs. The Phoenix 2700 DHP is the smart choice for production environments looking for an economical, easy to use unit. Designed to offer maximum flexibility to accomplish mounting on a large variety of substrates.

Which pouch laminator should I buy?

Depends on your usage, it’s all about the features! The ProLam 160 is a 4″ unit, which is great for laminating small cards only; the ProLam 330 is our most popular unit as it is affordable and has a 13″ throat opening to accommodate an ID card size up to 12″ x 18″ size; the ProLam Photo is perfect for professional use in laminating photos and other hard-to-laminate materials. It has an auto-memory function and energy saving stand-by mode; The ProLam Ultra is a favorite for commercial use with it’s 7 memory settings that ensure the correct temperature and speed for different pouch thickness. This superior unit features an air cooling system and auto shutoff. All units are designed for crystal-clear and bubble-free lamination and one year warranty.

What does “mil” mean and how does it affect my laminating?

A mil is one-thousandth of an inch (0.001“or 1/1000“). The thickness of a single layer of laminating film (including both the film and the adhesive) is measured in mils. Because most lamination applications are double-sided, the actual thickness of the film is double (so a document laminated in a 3 mil pouch will actually be 6 mils thick). The smaller the mils, the thinner and less rigid the film once it’s been melted.

How do I clean the rubber rollers on my pouch laminator?

For cleaning and all other questions, we always recommend that you refer first to your user manual for information specific to your machine. In general, we recommend that you run a sheet of 80lb cover stock or an empty carrier through your machine while it’s still hot, if you’re just needing to pull adhesive off the rollers. You can also check out our cleaning kit, which includes denatured alcohol, a soft cloth, and a scrubbing pad. Additionally, you can purchase our cleaning erasers which you can use to “erase” adhesive from your machine’s rollers. For additional information, you can also check out our blog post “Pouch Laminating: Perfect Results Every Time!”which has information on cleaning your pouch laminator.

*Note: Never use a straight edge, razor blade, or X-acto knife to clean your rollers.

When do I adjust the heat on my pouch laminator?

You can tell when temperature adjustments should be made by how your pouches look. If your pouches come out of your machine cloudy, your temperature is too low and you need to turn it up. If your pouches come off your laminating machine wrinkled, bubbled, or curled, your temperature is too high and you need to reduce the heat.