'This is my second laminator. My first one finally quit , I believe it was probably my own doing. It served me well. I cut out very detailed snowflakes , when gifting them or displaying them some of them tore very easily. So I started thermal laminating all of them. I can honestly say I have laminated more then 10,000 snowflakes over the past two years. I use very inexpensive copy paper, 500 sheets per pack. Since July of this year I have cut out and laminated 3 packs . This machine is a beast, I used some very fine glitter on some of my snowflakes before laminating them. Some sealed without problems , after that, well I had to order a new one . Now snowflakes with glitter get introduced to an inexpensive iron I purchased. I believe my first laminator would still be running strong . I took it apart and was able to see the glitter wasn't flat enough causing friction between the two rollers in the laminator , therefore causing the rollers to turn inconsistently. LESSON LEARNED. I give this machine 5 stars because I know how much I used it and how wonderfully it did the job.' THANKS FOR READING , HAPPY HOLIDAYS.'
*UPDATE* thousands of snowflakes later, still working great. I again have to order more pouches.
These snowflakes really have become an obsession. This machine is in my opinion a little work horse. It has continue to perform well for me every time I turn it on.
I again would recommend this laminating machine.
THANKS AGAIN ☺
Ok, if I could give the Scotch Thermal Laminator 2 Roller System 1000 stars I will give them all!!! I was skeptical and afraid to buy a laminator as the amount of work I needed to do was a lot. When I mean a lot, means a lot, I had to laminate 800 pages (menus for a restaurant) I first went to Staples to get a quote and for the whole job it came out to $600 dollars. I was left with no choice to get one, and after looking over several laminators, I thought to give it a chance to this one, and the $37 price could not be bid. I even thought to buy a second one in case this one broke after so many laminations, but not at all! The laminator heated after 3 minutes, then I started and after 4 hours and while reading a book all my 800 pages where laminated perfectly, no bubbles, no mess, no wrinkles and no jamming either. I didn't even need to turn it off and on, and it did not overheat. One of the best investments I had made for my office and restaurant!
Bought this in October of 2017. I use this very regularly, laminating all my educational resources for homeschooling. I've used lhe Amazon basic laminating sheets and a store on here called "packing supply" both at a 3 mil thickness. I've only had one jam and that was because I let my daughter feed it through lol but after I got it out, it still continues to work well and that happened in the early days of my laminating relationship. This thing has been a trooper. Very reliable.
I had to change the setting for this printer which defaults to 3 mil. but can also be set for 5 mil thickness as well. However, my 3 mill pouches of do not seal, a result, I assume of the sealer not being hot enough. I am now using the 5 mil setting for 3 mil pouches. Most 5 mil pouches usually made for luggage tags or ID's are simply NOT sealing regardless of running them through the machine twice.
For any serious laminating chores, I would suggest a more robust expensive model. They often come with thermal cardboard type sleeves that on better machines MUST be used or the laminator would melt the pouch without the cardboard sleeve. This laminator DOES NOT require a card board sleeve and if used, the pouch inside the sleeve will emerge exactly like it went in. That does not harm the machine. Just remove the pouch and reinsert it without the sleeve. Even then, it will most likely require two attempts and several seals later easily came apart. I would suggest this Laminator for .3 mil ONLY and pouches made specifically for this machine.
Feature Product
- Laminates items up to 9 inches wide
- Two roller system for a professional finish
- Suitable for use with photos
- For use with both 3 mil and 5 mil Thermal Pouches
Description
Scotch Thermal Laminator protects documents you handle frequently. This thermal laminator that will laminate items up to 9 in wide. It is a 2 roller system that has two temperature settings. It is photo quality and will laminate up to 5 mil thickness pouches.
I am a teacher and we have a place in our county to get lamination done but I just never seem to make it there and I have to pay for that also... and being a procrastinator, I tend to want things laminated on Sunday for use on Monday. So after 5 years of cutting things out and then having to throw them away because I didn't laminate them and the kids destroyed them, I decided to invest in this little guy. And I am in love.
I tend to make flashcards and vocabulary matching games (like memory) and I will laminate 15-20 pages at a time and it never breaks a sweat. To start, it takes about 5-7 minutes to warm up. It takes about 15-20 seconds to laminate each page. And they come out cool which is really nice!
I have the 3mm pouches but am laminating 65 lb cardstock so I actually set the machine on 5mm and it seems to work fine. No bubbling or hazing. I am currently using the Scotch brand thermal pouches but just ordered some of the generic to see how they compare. I will update my review when I have used them. The Scotch pouches are very high quality and sturdy. Also, I tend to laminate color images and the color is really clear after lamination. The pouches seem hazy at first but once you run it through the laminator it becomes clear. I think the quality is actually better than the huge laminating machine the county has.
The cost is about 14 cents per page with the Scotch brand pouches, which is definitely on the high side but I know I am paying for the convenience. I am hoping that the generics (which are about 9 cents per page) will be comparable. ***EDIT: I received the generics and have used an entire pack of 100. Only 2 or 3 of them ended up with wrinkles and I cannot tell a difference from the brand name ones. I ordered these generics: 3 Mil Clear Letter Size Thermal Laminating Pouches 9 X 11.5 Qty 100 (UNV84622) Using these cuts the price down to less than 10 cents a page!!
I highly recommend this laminator to anyone who needs it. I really wish I had gotten it sooner!
**UPDATE 10/11/14 - After 9 months of use, the light that shows when it is ready to use does not turn on. I use it a good bit but not daily and don't leave it running for more than 20-30 minutes at a time. The machine still gets hot and I am still able to use it. I just turn it on and usually set a timer for 10-15 minutes so I know its hot enough to work effectively. I am not deducting a star because I still love the laminator but this is definitely an inconvenience.
This little machine works great and is simple to use. Heats up quickly. I am a laminating addict. I laminate just about everything. Pictures, signs, labels, ID cards, maps to Disney parks lol. I had a laminator before that sealed its last item after 13 years. It was a more professional grade one that ironically my husband bought before we met. No clue what he used it for, I have never seen him turn it on. I don't know if this will hold up as well but so far I like how it is set up. It fits standard certificate sized sheets and can be used with all the other custom smaller sizes as well. The thicker items go through easily so far. It is a little tricky to take apart, I check because I will eventually jam something in there but is not a deal breaker. The feeder tray comes off for easier storage which I like. All in all I give it two thumbs up!
Well, I had this about a year before I actually used it!
(I couldn't resist a sale!)
But I have to say that this little machine worked like a champ.
We needed to laminate a membership card. Before doing the main thing we wanted to laminate, we
tried out a few other things first - a business card, a photo, and a piece of the cardstock that the membership
card was printed on. Everything did really well. The only exception was we tried to do a business card AND
a used lottery ticket (non winner of course). The two layers had a few bubbles, but another trip through the machine
took care of that.
Definitely let the machine heat up until the ready light goes on.
Trying to use it earlier will result in poor adhesion.
If you have any bubbles, don't try to smooth them by hand - run it all through the machine again.
Do NOT try to pull the item out from the front - it'll pass on out when it is ready!
Let the machine cool off for a long time before packaging it back up. It took longer to cool off than it did to heat up!
And it gets HOTHOTHOT. Do not let little kiddos use this unsupervised.
Overall, this is a very useful home laminator, and it does the job!
Does a very nice job. We use it to laminate signs we print on standard printer paper for outdoor use at our business. Need to make sure sheets are aligned, etc. to get good quality, but easy to learn to use and get good quality. If posting outdoors, make sure staples, etc. penetrate only where the two sides of the laminating "envelopes" are sealed together. I made the error of stapling where the paper was, and during rain or snow, the moisture pentrates enough to make the sign get wet and cause ink to bleed..
This worked beautifully for my purposes, so, I'm happy. I was skeptical, I'll admit. Being a teacher, I was very familiar with laminators, and the problems you can encounter with poor temperature settings. Our school's BIG machines often said the heating elements were "ready" when they weren't hot enough to melt the glue sufficiently. Therefore, the items being laminated were often ruined! So, skepticism! I wanted to laminate my Medicare card, and couldn't afford to have it ruined. So, fingers crossed, I read and followed the directions and WOW, it worked perfectly the first time. No issues whatsoever! LOVED it. It works MUCH better than the big machines! Thank you, Scotch. Great job! It's not something I will need to use often, but when you need it, it's nice to have! I bought different sized pouches and store them inside the box with the laminator. That way, I always know where everything is! It was easy to assemble, just attaching the feed tray, and disassemble, lifting to remove the feed tray. The pouches are so easy to use, too. Just slip the item you want to laminate inside the pouch and feed it through the laminator. Couldn't be easier!
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