Laminators

[fatbananas]

Hope someone has some experience of this!

I've been making flashcards for DS: timestables etc and wanted to laminate them so that they didn't become too dog-earred before I need to use them again for DS2. Has anyone got any experience of laminators and can recommend one? Also, can laminators laminate something as small as an index card or can you stick them onto an A4 piece of paper (question on one side; answer carefully placed on the other side) and laminate and then cut them? I wasn't sure if cutting them would create a sort of opening, which would mean they would fall apart?

Thanks for any advice!

[scary mum]

Ours is a cheapy one from Tesco (about 5/6 years ago), and has been great. You can use A4, A5, credit card size etc. The only thing I would say about it is that I have to leave it to warm up for longer than when it says it is ready, if you see what I mean. Well worth having one, I think.

[fatbananas]

http://www.tesco.com/direct/tesco-home- ... 2-6578.prd

Hope I've copied the link correctly.

Thanks for replying Scary Mum. Is this the one you mean? It was the one I was looking at before I felt I needed advice!

[Snowdrops]

I've had a laminator for years, they can be dangerous things, you go round laminating everything I love mine

I got one which can do up to A3, so useful for the bigger things in life.

As for small things, you simply place whatever you're laminating inside the pouch then put it through the laminator. All the sides surrounding the item will stick together. Once it comes out simply cut around your item to the size you require- job done!

[DIY Mum]

I used to have a Docuseal laminator which lasted 9 years. Did just about everything from A3- index cards. I've laminated a4 sheets and cut them out (to make spell a word jigsaws) and it's been fine.

The only time it tends to fall apart is when you laminate 2 pieces of printed paper (back to back) and cut through them. Then they open up. This happened to my digraph word picture /books. Most laminators are good and will do the job well. When mine 'died', I was desperate for another one and rather than queue up in the staff room to use theirs, I purchased what was near at hand. It was a normal one from WHSmith which was expensive for the product but hasn't let me down yet.

[NorthLondonMum]

I also have a cheap Tesco laminator and am really pleased with it. I buy the Tesco laminating pouches which come in a pack of mixed sizes.

Warning: Laminating can be addictive!

[mike1880]

Oooh, a laminator thread! I love laminating things. The cat's never been the same since though.

I don't think it greatly matters which laminator you buy, but from bitter experience if you're laminating something smaller than A4 I recommend that you trim the laminating pouch down to a rough size first. Unless the pouch is supported by paper/card/cat/whatever it can crumple up in the machine when it's heated and jam it irreparably. I say "rough size" because they're flippin' hard to trim neatly beforehand, it's easier to neaten the edges up after you've put them through.

I think if you stick them to an A4 page and laminate then cut down to size I'd expect the layers to separate eventually, so it depends how much use you need to get from them and how much of each laminating pouch you're prepared to waste. I laminated some counters for some game or other of our son's last weekend, I did that by sticking them to A4 card, laminating it and then cutting them out. I can't imagine they'll last forever but they were printed off the internet and can be redone whenever needed so I'm not worrying about it.

Mike

[Sally-Anne]

Laminators are wonderful, but far too fiddly for flashcards. You will be driven demented by trying to get them to stay even vaguely in place in the pouch as they go through the machine.

Print them out on card, cover them with good old-fashioned sticky back plastic and then cut them out.

You could even buy my other favourite toy - a guillotine ...

<Hides under rock after outing self as a stationery fetishist>

[scary mum]

Ooh yes, sticky back plastic, laminators and guillotines all in one thread! Bliss. The tesco one above is probably the new version of mine. It came with various sizes of plastic for laminating. If you get a guillotine, get an A4 one - I made the mistake of getting a small one.

[yoyo123]

Mine is a cheap Aldi one. You can laminate small things, but back to back is tricky. Best thing is to leave a margin around each item when you cut.