There was a time when it was impossible to consider pouch lamination without the use of a pouch carrier. Nowadays, however, there are an increasing number of laminating machine manufacturers who are hyping machines that can laminate without the use of carriers. For the most part these types of machines utilize ceramic or silicon heated rollers and heating plates that are coated with Teflon to prevent laminating pouches from sticking. However, we have found that just because laminating machines are capable of being run without carriers doesn t mean that it s a good idea to do so. In fact, we believe that the pros of using a carrier for your hot lamination far outweigh the perceived benefits of carrier free lamination. Here are four reasons why we think you should use a pouch carrier every time you laminate.
1. You should be aware that every time you run an item through your hot laminator, a little bit of the adhesive that allows the pouch to adhere to the document squeezes out. Over time, if you are using a laminator without a carrier, you ll find that that extra adhesive will end up somewhere in the machine, most likely on the rollers. The rollers heat up the adhesive and they need to be kept very clean or else all kinds of difficulties can ensue, including a document sticking and becoming wrapped around the rollers. That can easily ruin your laminator or laminating machine.
2. Roller wrap is one reason that many, many laminating machines end up in the trash. The way that a pouch carrier helps to avoid this problem is by adding a certain amount of rigidity to the document. This way, the items you are laminating will not curl, and that will help you to make sure that even if your documents start to wrap around the rollers, the adhesive that is used in the laminating process won t adhere the document that is being fused onto the rollers themselves.
3. Carriers do more than save the life of the machine. They also helps your documents look a lot better. Carriers assist in ensuring that your laminated documents are free of imperfections such as streaks and heat marks. The way they accomplish this is to provide a smooth, hard surface when the machine is being fed. If there are small amounts of glue on the rollers, the imperfections will not be as obvious when you use a pouch carrier.
4. When users handle pouches that have just been laminated and are still hot, there is always a danger of leaving fingerprints and other marks on the finished laminated document. When you use a pouch carrier, on the other hand, you can move the freshly laminated document safely without ever having to actually touch it. This is both nice for safety reasons, and for aesthetic purposes.
Pouch carriers are a very inexpensive item, and are usually included with every package of pouches that you purchase. We highly recommend that you use them every time you laminate, as they can help prevent so many problems and hassles.
Author Resource:
Jeff McRitchie is the designer and Director of Marketing for http://www.mybinding.com .He has written over 500 articles on binding machines,binding covers,binders,laminators,binding supplies,laminating supplies,paper handling equipments,index tabs, and shredders.
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