The Best Laminating Pouch

Buying Guide

There are both hot and cold laminating machines available on the market, but pouches only work with hot (thermal) laminating machines. Laminating pouch machines use heat and pressure to seal documents, photographs and other paper materials into plastic sheets. They use rollers to move the items through, and these come out sealed and protected. The pouches were a boon to the industry of laminators, since they made the laminating process much easier and thus accessible to the average person.

To encase your document, all you need to do is place your item inside the pouch and run it through the laminator.  Laminating pouches work best with one item inside at a time, but you can place several smaller ones in the pouch, then cut them apart. The pouches also come in different sizes and finishes, each suited for different purposes.

• Thermal laminating machine prices range from about $20 up into the low thousands. If you plan to do a lot of laminating, get a quality thermal laminator.
• The standard pouch thickness is 3 millimeters.
• Always load the pouch into the laminator sealed side first.
• See what kind of finish the laminating pouches have. A glossy sheen can make restaurant menus stand out, but you might not want that on a formal document. Some people prefer a glossy finish for photos, while others do not.