Question 1

What does 2-roller system mean? Please provide practical explanation.

Accepted Answer

Hi, all thermal laminators utilize heated rollers to both melt the laminating adhesive and move the laminating pouch through the machine.  A "two roller system" means that the laminator has two heated rollers. A "4 roller system" has 2 heated rollers, and 2 nonheated rollers that improve the finishing quality (by pushing out additional air within the pouch).  A "2 roller system" is ideal for most small offices, classrooms, and homes.  Hope this helps!

Question 2

will it laminate 5 ml pouches?

Accepted Answer

Yes!!!  It has a specific setting for 3 ml and 5 ml.  The 5 ml setting will actually laminate up to 7ml :)

Question 3

Would someone please explain what "pouch" means?  I have never used a laminator but would like to.  Do I need a separate pouch for each item ?

Accepted Answer

This machine is a pouch laminator. There are several types of lamination machines. But the end goal of all is to laminate a clear usually plastic film to a paper sheet on both sides of the paper. So this machines uses the pouch plastic film which is double sided and three sides are open and one side is welded together to form what is referred to as a pouch. I have seen two sides welded but those are not the norm. Some laminators however use ROLLS of the plastic film where 2 rolls of film are fed through the laminater at the same time you insert a sheet of paper to be laminated and the end is the same but you have to cut it off the roll once through. You can purchase pouches in various sizes. From small sizes like business card size all the way up to 11 x 15 even sometimes larger. Part of the problem choosing too large a size for a cheap laminator like this is the heat does not last long enough to support that length of run. If your laminator is too cool you get cloudly laminations because the plastic ahdesion wasn't hot enough to bind with the paper and if it's wavy your heat is too high. I have two laminators that allow me to adjust the heat but they are more expensive. They also require carriers which some laminators work well with but again you need hotter temps to work through the carrier folder material. Some times when you purchase laminate pouches it comes with a carrier folder. From experience if my laminator of choice heats hot enough to use the folder I use a folder. It almost always prevents any jams and loss of say smaller laminations you may have cut down or used smaller lamination pouches or pockets. If you do foiling with a laminator you may need to make your own folder out of parchment paper or similar or light cardstock. The key is to keep glue or other materials from sticking to your rollers and the other is the protective folder also adds stiffness to the laminate process so it does not get caught and rolled up into the rollers themselves causing a jam. Not all Jam Releases release these jams and that means taking your laminator apart and not all cheaper laminates are built to be opened up. If you get a good one they can be very useful and lead to some creative purposes too not just utilitarian.

Question 4

how waterproof does it make the paper?  would it survive a trip through the washing machine?

Accepted Answer

Well, I use these pouches to laminate work stations for my kindergarteners.  They write on the pieces with vis-a-vis markers and then wash and dry them off with paper towels after they're finished.  The edges stay sealed and I've never had a problem with water getting inside.  I would think something would survive a cycle in the washing machine because these pouches are really thick - much more so than regular laminating film.   Good Luck!

ASIN	B0010JEJPC
Brand	Scotch
Brand Name	Scotch
Colour	black
Country of Origin	USA
Customer Reviews	4.7 out of 5 stars 59,158 Reviews
Global Trade Identification Number	00638060652961
Item Weight	1.3 kg
Laminating Width Maximum	9 Inches
Manufacturer	3M Office Products
Number of Rollers	2
UPC	638060652961

Scotch Thermal Laminator 2 Roller System (TL901)

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