How To Laminate Cards?

tarotlyn

gregory said:
That is EXACTLY what I was afraid of - thanks for that !

But I don't leave an edge with my hot lamination - I DO run each individual card through again after I do it, which (so far at least) seems to seal the edges OK. But they are a bit thick (my pouches are um -150 microns, I think they say. Not got them here, so...)

:heart: gregory, that is great...if I understand it right...

RE: hot pouches, and cutting right up to the edge of the card (with no remaining laminate)
Maybe you discovered the trick...)laminate pouches run through TWICE and
then you can cut right up to the edge of the image :thumbsup::)

Question:
Have you used the deck a LOT to see if it also fluffs up on the corners, like the cold laminate does?

Re: A4
gregory, I found this for you:
quoting:
"A4 Paper is a standardized paper size established by the International Standards Organization.
The paper dimensions are 210 x 297 mm. Throughout Europe and the world
A4 is the close equivalent to U.S. letter size (8.5" x 11"),
but measuring 8.27 x 11.69 inches." You can read the whole page
here: http://www.graytex.com/a4-paper-size.htm

...and they sell an A4 58 lb here:
It would be thicker if you use the 3 mil hot pouches.
(I want to try this one myself)
http://www.graytex.com/inkjet-papers.htm (100 A4 sheets for $33.78)
(scroll to the bottom of the page)

:heart: tarotlyn

ETA: Just remembered, in that article for gluing the corners after the lamination
has lifted up the card stock:
the writer said once she had glued them back together, they were very strong
and didn't have any further problems later on. So that is a positive, because
I have a deck I just love and use a LOT...like this! :)...glue...here I come! :laugh:
 

gregory

tarotlyn said:
:heart: gregory, that is great...if I understand it right...

RE: hot pouches, and cutting right up to the edge of the card (with no remaining laminate)
Maybe you discovered the trick...)laminate pouches run through TWICE and
then you can cut right up to the edge of the image :thumbsup::)

Question:
Have you used the deck LOT to see if it also fluffs up on the corners, like the cold laminate does?
Yes. The trick is to run the individual cards through again AFTER you trim them.

Re: A4
gregory, I found this for you:
quoting:
"A4 Paper is a standardized paper size established by the International Standards Organization.
The paper dimensions are 210 x 297 mm. Throughout Europe and the world
A4 is the close equivalent to U.S. letter size (8.5" x 11"),
but measuring 8.27 x 11.69 inches." You can read the whole page
here: http://www.graytex.com/a4-paper-size.htm

...and they sell an A4 58 lb here:
It would be thicker if you use the 3 mil hot pouches.
(I want to try this one myself)
http://www.graytex.com/inkjet-papers.htm (100 A4 sheets for $33.78)
(scroll to the bottom of the page)

:heart: tarotlyn
Oh I know about A4 - it is the UK standard and my laminator is in the UK... I can get it there easy as. I do NOT want to end up with letter size cartridges that won't go through my European machine, you see - they are wider !
 

tarotlyn

:heart::) Thanks gregory!!!

Okay then...hot lamination pouches...run them through twice...and cut to the edge of the card :thumbsup:

...too bad they are so darn stiff afterwards...I like a more flexible, thin, card :bugeyed:

:heart:Lyn
 

shadowdancer

I have laminated shed loads of stuff... using a hot laminator I bought for something like 14.00 (UK sterling) years ago, and using Tesco own brand laminating pouches. (80 microns thickness) They were the best I had used by far of any brand, and found the local supermarket ones here in NZ are just as good, and better than those bought from computer suppliers - go figure.

One strong word of advice. Round the corners of any card you laminate BEFORE laminating, then cut round that. If you try and corner round a laminated card in a corner rounder trust me you will end up with a huge jam on your hands.

oh and if you want a thin and flexible product, use thinner card. I use thin card which I can only get from one shop and it works just fine. (off top of my head I think it is 120gsm)

220gsm would be took thick for my liking.
 

tarotlyn

shadowdancer said:
...
oh and if you want a thin and flexible product, use thinner card. I use thin card
which I can only get from one shop and it works just fine.
(off top of my head I think it is 120gsm)

220gsm would be took thick for my liking.

:heart::) thanks for the great advice, :heart: shadowdancer, Do you know the
'weight' or 'mil' of the 120 gsm...it is probably called something different in the usa?
I don't think I have seen 120 gsm here :bugeyed:
:heart: tarotlyn

ETA: I think I found my own answer ...I found this online:
quoting:
"US paper weights are extremely confusing as they are the weight of 500 sheets.
However, the sheets are NOT the size you are using, but the size of the basis
sheet from which final sheets are cut. So the conversion from pounds to
grams per square meter (gsm) is different for each category of paper."

32# bond is 120 gsm

7 pt card stock is 0.007" thick and 90#. Card stock has a different conversion and this is 163 gsm

9 pt card stock is 0.009" thick and 110#. It converts to 199 gsm


So...220 gsm must be really thick!
I think 32# (or 120gsm) is really quite thin, but when using 'hot pouches'
it probably works great, as you say.

You can read the rest of the info here:

http://forum.onlineconversion.com/showthread.php?t=10670
 

gregory

shadowdancer said:
I have laminated shed loads of stuff... using a hot laminator I bought for something like 14.00 (UK sterling) years ago, and using Tesco own brand laminating pouches. (80 microns thickness)
I use those. The CHEAP ones in the blue and white packs ? Well, I DID - till they vanished from the shelves a few months ago, so now I am running on Wilkos. - ALMOST as good...

I actually find my corner rounder works fine through the laminate ! One card at a time though - have you a huge big one ?
 

shadowdancer

Now there is a question to stop you in your tracks :D :D

No, just a normal craft shop one. Just hates laminate.

Shame about the Tesco pouches - yep they were the ones. cheap but darned good.
 

gregory

Well - they were only out of stock for three weeks. They may be back before I need more. Wilkos aren't bad - just not as GOOD !

My corner cutter is a little bitty one - this one in a smaller size. But it's OK with laminate. Now the VACUUM cleaner hates the stuff with a passion... :D
 

strings of life

tarotlyn, thank you so much for posting, especially since you have experience with the Xyron5 :D!

tarotlyn said:
I found the difference between hot lamination and cold lamination is:

* Cold Lamination:
You can cut the card all the way to the edge of the image and the lamination
adheres to the whole card stock, but as I mentioned above, 'after' using the
cards a lot (even over hand mixing...not regular shuffling) and even being careful,
the lamination tends to fluff and to pull the card stock apart in the middle.
Great advice, and now I know I can go straight to the card when I use my trimmer to cut the lamination off. I was hoping I could.

Interesting about the corners separating though, but more on that below.

tarotlyn said:
I read about this problem in an online article, (wish I could find it again! :bugeyed:)
and I think I remember the writer saying that she just used some kind of
glue (wish I remembered which glue! :bugeyed:) and glued the separated
card stock on the corners and it was as good as new...but I worry about it
bleeding into the image 'from the inside' of the card stock...anyone know
what would be a good glue for this? I am thinking maybe 'leather' adhesive,
which is flexible... guess I need to experiment with this :bugeyed:
Hmm, I wonder if I can seal edges with something else after I laminate the cards, or at least seal the corners? Or shall I say, double seal since technically the lamination is a seal?

Have you ever double sealed one of your laminated decks (as in run it through 2x)?

tarotlyn said:
ETA: Just remembered, in that article for gluing the corners after the lamination
has lifted up the card stock:
the writer said once she had glued them back together, they were very strong
and didn't have any further problems later on. So that is a positive, because
I have a deck I just love and use a LOT...like this! :)...glue...here I come! :laugh:
Now I know there's a fix!

gregory said:
My corner cutter is a little bitty one - this one in a smaller size. But it's OK with laminate. Now the VACUUM cleaner hates the stuff with a passion... :D
Ah, thanks for posting this :love:. I use the same brand (5mm) sold here in the US, so that's reassuring. The card corners are rounded pre-lamination, so I'll only be rounding the lamination - one card at a time. This corner rounder is a champ and cheap to boot.
 

gregory

Has anyone here been given a cold laminated deck that started to peel and put it trough a hot laminator to fix ?? (not the CARD peeling, ONLY the laminate...) My cold laminator won't take single cards that I can see...