How Does Lamination Work? The Process Explained

If you’ve attended public school or worked in an office, you’ve probably encountered a laminated document at one point or another. But many of us don’t understand exactly how laminating pouches work, and why we use them. In reality, lamination has a wide variety of uses far beyond simply those applied in the classroom or the office.

Laminating pouches are essentially coatings. They are primarily meant to be protective and seal articles of paper between two layers of plastic. There are actually many different types of lamination to choose from, all serving different purposes. In fact, lamination can be used just as effectively for items you keep at home as they would be used for academic or work-related documents. Let’s explore some of the uses for lamination and how it is used.

Why Do We Laminate Products?

Again, the primary reason for using laminating pouches is to protect certain paper products. Even sturdier forms of paper tend to degrade over time. Laminating pouches can help prevent so many types of damage, not merely tearing, but smudging, creasing, staining, or even fingerprint marks.

The reason we use extra large laminating pouches is either to protect important documents or mementos or simply to get the most out of our paper products. This is why we’ll often see laminated restaurant menus. Though restaurants could easily offer flimsy paper menus that can be thrown away after a single use, many prefer laminating and reusing menus in order to save money. For these same reasons, teaching aids are also often laminated. We’ll frequently see people laminate letters that have emotional significance in order to ensure that they last over the years, and key work documents are usually laminated to preserve their integrity and prevent edits from being made.

IDs are often laminated because they need to be reused almost constantly. Furthermore, when an ID is laminated it’s more difficult for it to be tampered with, which can obviously be a concern considering the fake ID industry at work in this day and age.

What Are Laminating Pouches Made From?

Considering the reliability of pouch lamination, you may be wondering about the types of materials used in this process. Usually, the outer layer will be Polyethylene Terephthalate, which is a kind of polyester resin. It can be manipulated into different shapes, including large sheets, which makes it ideal for lamination.

The other primary material is Ethylene-Vinyl Acetate. While soft, it is also resilient and is often used as a type of adhesive. This is why it’s frequently used for the internal layer of laminating pouches.

What Are My Options?

There are two standard options when it comes to laminating paper products. In the hot laminating process, paper is fed into a machine in between two sheets of laminating film. The entire product will be heated, creating a seal. This process is rather quick, saving time and money.

The other option is cold lamination, which is self-sealing. In this case, you would place the paper product in a pouch, peel away a backing sheet, and stick the products together. This isn’t ideal if you need to laminate a lot of products, but it’s simple enough for small scale operations.

There are other components to consider when you laminate products; for example, whether you want a glossy or matte lamination. But in general, lamination has become a straightforward way for people to protect documents and other articles of paper that they need to last for an extended time period. Without it, we’d face higher costs to reprint or repurchase damaged materials.