Pouch laminators come in all shapes and sizes. If you have ever read our laminator guide (found here), you will know that laminators come in different sizes, with different amounts of rollers and different features. Finding the best laminator can be difficult, and nobody wants to buy a laminator that will die a few months later.

We have been selling laminators since 1980, and have received a lot of feedback during the last few years regarding reliable laminators. We have taken this data and feedback and have compiled a list of highly reliable and durable pouch laminators that shouldn’t give you a headache.

Some laminators are not featured in this list because we haven’t had them online long enough to tell whether or not they are “list worthy” (Sircle and Fellowes). As part of an effort to offer you, the customer, the best product, we try to remove unreliable laminators (and products) from our site if the don’t meat our quality guidelines. With that in mind, here is our list of the top seven pouch laminators according to our customers.

Top 7 Best Pouch Laminators

1. Banner American PL12A Pouch Laminator
2. Banner American PL4A Pouch Laminator
3. Banner American PL135-4 Pouch Laminator
4. Tahsin TCC-330 Pouch Laminator
5. Akiles Pro-Lam 100 Pouch Laminator
6. Akiles Pro-Lam Plus 330 Pouch Laminator
7. Big Mouth Pouch Laminator

When looking for lamination film, you have probably noticed the term mil come up. Lamination film is often available in 1.5, 3, 5, 7 and 10-mil thickness. Logically it would seem the higher the number the thicker the film. That would be correct. But what does the term mil stand for?

Mil comes from the Latin mille, which means a thousand. One mil, in lamination measurement terms, is a thousandth of an inch. Your standard credit card is 30-mils thick, which equals out to be 0.03-inches thick.

If you like to use pouch laminators, you may think that a 10-mil pouch is 0.010 inches thick. That would be incorrect. It is a bit of a trick question. Lamination pouches, when labeled 3, 5, 7 or 10 mils thick, are actually referring to one side of the lamination pouch (total of two sides). Combining both sides of the lamination pouch, the thickness is doubled. A 10 mil lamination pouch is actually a total of 20 mils thick once laminated, not counting the paper, photograph or card being laminated.

Roll lamination film, on the other hand, is a little less confusing. When you buy a roll of 5-mil film, you get a 5-mil roll. Remember, however, that roll laminators use two rolls of film to laminate a poster, map or whatever you need. Using a 5-mil roll on the top and a 5-mil roll on the bottom would be a total of 10 mils of film. Simple math.

Getting back to pouch laminators, you may have ordered a box of 7-mil lamination pouches and noticed on the box that it says 2/5. Yes, 2+5 does equal 7, but what does it mean? That number is letting you know that the pouch consists of 2 mils laminate glue and 5 mils of hard plastic, giving you the total of 7. This isn’t always labeled on the box, but often is.

You can read more about laminators and lamination by reading our lamination guide here: http://www.abcoffice.com/laminating_guide.htm.

Good luck laminating!