I will often have customers call me to ask whether you can run Unibind covers in a thermal binding machine and whether you can run thermal binding covers in a Unibind machine. Unfortunately, thermal binding machines simply do not get hot enough to properly activate the glue in a Unibind Cover. However, it is possible use your Unibind machine along with Thermal binding Covers or with Covers that you have created yourself with Thermal Binding Glue strips. Here is how.

Every new Unibind binding machine is shipped with a small metal washer that was used to test the machine. Some people have suggested that you use this washer to activate your Unibind machine when binding a thermal binding cover. However, in my opinion this is not safe. The metal washer will become extremely hot and can be extremely dangerous to handle. This is especially true since you will have to remove and replace the washer to reactivate the machine. Instead of using the washer, why not simply use a Unibind Cover that you have laying around. Chances are, you probably have a presentation bound with Unibind that you don’t need any more . Or you can just have us send you a sample Unibind Cover with your thermal covers.

Once you have your Unibind cover simply insert it into the Unibind Machine along with your thermal cover and the Unibind Cover will activate the heating element on the Unibind machine. Simply let the Unibind Machine go through its heating cycle and then move the documents over to the cooling compartment (it is always a good idea to drop thermal bound documents on the table once while they are still hot to ensure the pages are securely seated in the glue). You don’t even have to wait for the Unibind cover to cool to use it again. Simply place the cover back into the heating compartment along with another thermal cover and you can repeat the process. It is as easy as that.