What Is a Pouch Laminator?

A pouch laminator is a machine that makes use of laminating pouches to seal items in plastic. Laminating pouches are plastic pouches that are sealed on three sides, leaving the fourth side open for document insertion. After an item is placed in a laminating pouch, it is then fed into the pouch laminator, which uses rollers to push and pull the pouch over the heat source. The heat melts the plastic, and rollers pull the document onto a cooling rack. Laminating items usually protects them from damage for a long time, if not indefinitely.

People who make use of pouch laminators might use them for a variety of laminating needs. Laminating pouches in just about any size are available for purchase from a variety of sources. A pouch laminator might laminate something as small as a pet identification tag or something as large as an outdoor sign. If an individual will be making use of a pouch laminator on a regular basis, he or she might choose to invest in one that has more features and has been tested to last a long time.

A pouch laminator is usually made in one of two ways. Some pouch laminators have two rollers called pull rollers. This means that an individual must manually feed the laminating pouch into the machine until the back pull rollers grasp it and pull the rest of the document through. A pouch laminator that has four rollers has both push and pull rollers. A filled laminating pouch is placed at the entry point of the laminator, and a button is pressed to begin pushing and pulling the document through.

Laminating pouches come in a variety of sizes and thicknesses. Some pouch laminators laminate only up to a certain pouch thickness, which might limit an individual’s use of the machine. Other pouch laminators will laminate just about every pouch thickness available, but these machines tend to be more expensive. In addition to thickness, the size of laminating pouches is another thing for a consumer to consider. If he or she will be laminating very large items, he or she will need a laminator that has the ability to laminate very large pouches.

An optional piece of equipment to use with a pouch laminator is a carrier. Carriers are heavy duty paper folders that have nonstick interiors. A laminating pouch is placed inside a carrier before it is fed into the laminating machine, which helps prevent melted plastic from getting on the interior rollers.