Thermal Lamination Vs Cold Lamination

There are two types of laminating heat activated thermal laminating and cold pressure sensitive laminating.

Thermal lamination vs cold lamination.

Thermal process film adhered to the paper on the basis of heat where cold process works on such as one side with adhesive or glued while laminating. A laminating pouch is used for two sided laminating and comes in either cold pouches or thermal pouches. A release liner protects the adhesive until it ready to applied typically on a cold roll laminator. Cold laminating films typically cost more than hot laminating films but they can be applied using less costly easier to operate non.

Cold laminating cold laminating is often referred to as pressure laminating. You ll have a good idea of the machine that bests suits your needs and matches your expectations by the end of this page. The film is a basic budget product great for black and white prints and or offset printed items in fact any item that is not heat sensitive. Each of these laminating styles has unique features that make them ideal for certain laminating jobs.

Pressure sensitive laminators or cold machines rely on high pressure to laminate. Thermal laminators use heat as a way to seal. Hot lamination is the most common and durable lamination method and is generally preferred over cold lamination. Thermal or hot laminating is the process of using heat to melt the adhesives on the plastic to seal the document.

A thermal laminator can in many cases be used for cold laminating as well if the machine has that feature option. If cold laminating is all you do use self adhesive laminating sheets without a laminating machine. For better lamination product is also the part of quality printing as well as during printing job have to control powder in proper order otherwise lamination not adhered to the paper properly. Hot laminators use a heat activated adhesive that is heated as it passes through the laminator.

The other type cold laminating doesn t involve heat. That is because cold laminating film has a tacky adhesive on one side that sticks to documents when pressure is applied much like scotch tape. I ll explain the differences between the two. Cold laminating is sometimes used for sensitive documents such as photos.

The difference in price isn t too great but it is there however you will find that the supplies need for cold lamination are more expensive than what you need for thermal processing. 1 hot thermal laminating usually around 120c on a hot roll machine or 140c on a hot shoe machine. Both hot and cold laminating is still commonly used today however hot thermal laminating is by far the most popular. Thermal pouches always require a heated pouch laminator to seal.

There are two basic forms of thermal laminating. That said thermal machines are usually a bit more expensive than cold ones simply because they cost more to produce. The cost per square inch come higher but the best option for quality lamination. Cold laminating films have a more aggressive adhesive that can be applied with pressure instead of heat.