Laminators - a little 101!

Here is the most recent blog post from my personal blog at Imprintables: www.thegarmentedge.com. I hope you like it!

Recently there have been a few discussions on MyVersacamm.com regarding lamination and laminators. The topics have ranged from what is lamination to what the best
laminator is and also the hows and whys of it all. I thought that I would spend
some time this week going over what and how these work and some of the features
that you should look for when deciding on a laminator.

Lamination is the process of applying a protective film or “laminate” over a print. This will extend the life of the print by protecting it from scratches, moisture,
abrasion and ultraviolet light that will cause your prints to fade. Lamination
can also add effects to your prints such as a matte or embossed finish, carbon
fiber pattern, and even dry erase surface! Laminates range in thicknesses and
can change the way a print looks by its finish. Using a gloss finish will make
a graphic “pop” quite a bit, luster tends to have a negligible effect on the
print other than protection, and a matte finish will keep a print no-glare and
can dull colors down some.

Laminators can also add another dimension to your business; mounting prints to different substrates. You can use a laminator to apply prints to Coroplast for yard
signs, acrylic panels for backlit signs, Foamcore for indoor signs and many
other substrates. Recently in my wife’s shop we have mounted prints to Coroplast
for some outdoor and indoor signs, Foamcore for presentation boards, and used
the laminator to mask sign vinyl for application by our customers.

For all of you garment people out there, the laminator can help you in a big way. Imagine using the laminator to apply mask material to your prints prior to
applying them to garments. You can apply the mask material to large and small
prints or even large runs of left chest logos and simplify your work process
and save time. Wrinkle and bubble free masking to a 2 foot by 3 foot run of
left chest logos in less than 2 minutes sounds like a lifesaver to many!

When deciding on what you need for a laminator there are a few specific things to look for:

mso-hansi-font-family:Calibri;mso-bidi-font-family:Calibri"">- Ease of use

o Look for easy to operate features such as a
single point of pressure application, remote operating switches (foot pedal),
and safety features to protect the operator.

mso-hansi-font-family:Calibri;mso-bidi-font-family:Calibri"">- Simple setup

o Make sure that the setup process is not a
complex procedure that requires multiple personnel. The setup and switch over
from lamination mode to mounting mode should take no more than 2 minutes and be
accomplished by any user efficiently.

mso-hansi-font-family:Calibri;mso-bidi-font-family:Calibri"">- Multi function

o The laminator should work well for both
lamination, mounting, and automated masking. Look for size of the machine to be
wider than the maximum width of your printer and consider a unit that will
allow for mounting your prints to many different size and thickness of
materials.

mso-hansi-font-family:Calibri;mso-bidi-font-family:Calibri"">- Enhancing

o The addition of any piece of equipment should
enhance and expand what you can provide to your customers. If you cannot get
training and support, you will not get the full potential from the laminator.
Make sure that you purchase from a company that provides all of this to help
you through the learning process!

At Imprintables Warehouse we carry Royal Sovereign laminators. I personally use one in production at my wife’s shop and provide training and support on these machines. They are easy to use,
multi functioning, and will be an asset to any business. If you would like more
information on them and want to learn more on how they can help your business,
send me an email at steven@imprintables.com or call me directly at
518-728-5890.

BTW – make sure to ask me about the specials we are having on laminators this December and how you can save money on your taxes next year with a capital purchase this year!