The Ultimate Buyer's Guide for Purchasing Soft Laminating Rolls Film

Schools, hospitals, print shops and offices big and small laminate to protect and preserve everything from documents and teaching materials to menus and posters. Roll laminators are often the go-to because they’re user-friendly, fast and efficient, plus they give you the freedom to tackle a wider range of projects. When you laminate often and a higher quantity, they can save you time and money too.

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But with so many different types of lamination film available, it’s understandable to feel a little…uncertain. Knowing these basics will help you better understand laminating film options and feel more confident.

What are the different types of laminating roll film?

Thermal vs Pressure-Sensitive Laminating Film

What are you laminating? That's an important factor. Maybe the most important. Some laminating films are activated by heat to create a seal. Called thermal laminating film, they can vary with the temperature required to activate them, and they're the perfect solution for durable documents that aren't heat sensitive. ("Activate" is when the adhesive melts and seals the laminating film.)

But heat-sensitive documents such as select photographs and thermal or waxed-based prints, don’t like heat whatsoever, so you wouldn’t want to risk damaging them with thermal laminating film. That's where pressure-sensitive laminating film comes into play, also known as cold laminating film. As your photograph feeds through the laminator, the pressure of the rollers seals your film’s adhesive, rather than heat, to create that protective surface.

School vs Premium vs Low Melt Laminating Roll Film

School laminating roll film activates at 280–300°F and is typically the choice when laminating porous paper stocks, such as regular bond paper, teaching aids and posters. School film is the most common choice of, you guessed it, schools.

Premium laminating roll film activates at a much lower temperature — 230–250°F — so it’s safer for older documents, coated stock and prints with heavy ink coverage. This film’s transparency tends to be a bit clearer and crisper too. It’s primarily the choice of businesses that utilize narrow format laminators, such as print shops and corporations.

Low melt laminating roll film activates at the lowest temperature of the three — 180–220°F. Available for wide format only, it provides high clarity and protection for heat-sensitive inkjet images. Dedicated graphics and print shops tend to be the only users of low melt film.

Use this handy guide to help you make the right choice of laminator for your specific needs. Asking yourself these questions will help to ensure that the machine you purchase best suits your requirements. Make sure you take into consideration all the aspects shown. You can also visit our Laminators & Laminating Machines Blog for a wealth of useful information on laminating machines, laminating film and laminating pouches. Alternatively of course, you can call one of our advisers at standard rates on   for assistance.

What Is Lamination?

Lamination or encapsulation is a fast and simple way to protect documents, signs, artwork and graphics. Strictly speaking, the term “lamination” refers to applying a protective film to one side of an item that can be trimmed right to the edge of the item without the bond breaking down. In this case, pressure-sensitive or single-side heat-sensitive film is used – always in the form of rolls. Examples of this would include the protective film on the front of a business card; self-adhesive wall or floor graphics; good quality restaurant menu; or estate agent house brochure.

“Encapsulation” describes the process where low-melt film in the form of pouches or rolls is used, leaving a border of about 5mm all the way around the edge of the item to ensure the integrity of the lamination. Most people will be more familiar with this technique and indeed, it will be the technique they need to use. Trimming to the edge of the item using encapsulation film will result in the eventual breakdown of the lamination bond, hence the need for the border. Examples of this would include large and small format posters in schools, shops or at exhibitions; photos; office signs; identity badges; etc.

In the real world, the term “lamination” has tended to become a catch-all or generalisation to describe both the main processes described above, so it is important to be clear on your requirements before proceeding. Call us on  if you are unsure.

Encapsulated items become completely waterproof and tear-proof, because the clear film is bonded all the way around the edge of the document. Laminated items benefit from surface protection.

Benefits of Laminating Documents

• Enhancement and preservation of colour and contrast to images
• Professional, quality-looking documents
• Long-term protection of documents that need frequent handling
• Quick and easy, with immediate results
• Avoid creases, wrinkles, sun damage, abrasions, tears, smudges, fingerprints and grease marks
• Protection from  spills, rain and mild chemicals

How would you best describe your daily usage?

Light Duty: Up to 5 sheets per day, a Home Office or Small Office machine should be adequate for your needs.

Light - Medium Duty: Up to 10 sheets per day, a Small Office machine should be adequate for your needs.

Medium Duty: Up to 15 sheets per day, an Office laminator would be best suited to your needs.

Heavy Duty: Up to 25 sheets per day, a Heavy Duty machine is strongly recommended for this level.

Professional: 25 sheets or more per day, a Professional or Roll laminator is strongly recommended for this level.

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What maximum width of item do you need to laminate?

It’s important to bear in mind that the laminating width shown for all our machines is the maximum they can laminate. This means they can laminate all sizes up to that maximum. For example, an A3 machine can also laminate A4 and even smaller sizes such as credit card, ID, badge, etc.

On the flip side, an A4 machine can laminate no bigger so it’s important to consider carefully if you will ever need or wish to laminate something bigger - albeit the requirement may be infrequent - before making your choice.

As a guide, most people need to laminate A4 paper (normal size printer paper) almost all the time but also need to process A3 occasionally. This means that the trend in sales is towards A3 machines, which enables people to deal with these two key sizes.

Of course, if your requirements are even more flexible, such as wide format or long lengths then you should look at one of the roll laminators or commercial laminators in our Wide Format section.

What is the maximum pouch thickness you are likely to use?

Standard pouches of 75 or 80 microns per side (total 150/160 microns when laminated) are fine for items that will get little handling and not be exposed to the elements. Typically, most documents will get a very good level of protection with a pouch of up to 125 microns per side (total 250 microns when laminated). Commercial, industrial or professional applications will require pouches of a greater thickness for maximum protection and an appropriate machine will be needed to take these pouches. Check the machine’s specification carefully to ensure it can handle the pouches you wish to laminate.

Do you need to laminate photos?

All the pouch laminators we offer can handle photos.

What is a pouch carrier and do you need one?

A pouch carrier is a Teflon or cardboard protective sleeve consisting of two sides and sealed or hinged at one end, that a pouch with the item to be laminated within, is itself inserted into before feeding into the laminator.

With the exception of the Peak Educator series of laminators and GBC Academy laminator, all our pouch laminators can be used without a carrier. Carriers also are not applicable to roll laminators. The Peak Educator series and GBC Academy are designed to be used at all times with a carrier such as the Lifejacket (see below).

Other, modern laminators do not need a carrier except if you intend to use your laminator for the lamination of small, multiple items in a larger pouch (i.e flash cards or similar to be cut out after lamination); odd-shaped items (i.e. stars, speech bubbles, etc.); any item that does not match the pouch size; or uneven items like children's artwork, collages or other uneven materials. In this case you should purchase a Lifejacket pouch carrier with your order. Using a Lifejacket pouch carrier in these instances dramatically cuts down on the likelihood of a jam. Failure to do so may invalidate your warranty if you then laminate such items and require technical support as a consequence.

A cardboard carrier should not be used with a modern laminator but we do have cardboard carriers available for older laminators in our Pouches and Carriers category.

Rollers

The more rollers that a machine has the better quality the lamination and the less likely it is that jams will occur. This is because with more rollers, the path through the machine is smoother and the heat applied to the pouch more consistent. Wherever possible select a machine with the highest number of rollers that your budget will allow for the best results.

Call us!

Don’t hesitate to call us for advice if you need it on our standard rate number:

Are you interested in learning more about Soft Laminating Rolls Film? Contact us today to secure an expert consultation!