Can I do one sided lamination with my roll laminator?

Every once in a while a need will arise to only laminate one side of a project. Especially common among photographers and print shops, single-sided lamination can be a tricky thing to do, but certainly not impossible. To start, they actually make one-sided laminators that are designed specifically for this task. However, these machines start at upwards of $20,000. So, most would be inclined to try this style lamination with their standard double-sided roll laminator. Doing this can be tricky and results aren’t guaranteed, but we will go through a few different methods you can try as well as how to prevent or fix common issues when doing single sided lamination with your roll laminator.

Ways to Accomplish One-Sided Lamination

Kraft Paper Method

The main thing we need to keep in mind while one-sided laminating is we need to prevent the laminating adhesive from getting on the opposite roller. The first method is to replace the bottom roll with kraft paper.

To use this method the roll of paper must be slightly wider than your choice of film on the top roll. The kraft paper is there to ensure the film adheres to it anywhere that there isn’t a document, instead of your machine’s heated rollers. Note, if your top lamination film is wider than the bottom paper, then you will still end up with a big sticky mess.

The kraft paper route is the easiest to manage, with give you likely the most professional finish, and also allows you to laminate multiple projects that are different sizes, allowing for the most variations.

However, this method will require you to purchase the kraft paper as an additional supply which will add to your final cost for the finished materials. You will also need to ensure you are getting a roll that fits your laminators core size, 1, 2.25, or 3” and isn’t too thick so it can sit comfortably in the machine.

Back-to-Back Method

The second way is to use two lamination rolls. This method can potentially be twice as fast, but can also be more unwieldy. This method is super convenient when you already have a laminator with two rolls of film already loaded on the machine. Instead of using the kraft paper, you can use another project of the same size! But it has to be the exact same size, put back to back, then inserted into the laminator. If either project shifts at all, then you are going to run into more problems. When the two projects are not aligned, it exposes the back of the projects to be laminated. This is bad because now a small part of the projects are laminated on the back meaning you will have to trim off significantly more to unstick the two. This also means that if you are hoping to laminate multiple different sizes, this method won't work very well.

If you don’t have two of the same size projects to laminate, you can also do this method with a piece of scrap paper on the bottom. This does create more waste but allows you still utilize this technique.

Narrow Lamination Method

Some users choose to run a laminating roll that is slightly more narrow than the document they are laminating. This prevents the adhesive from getting on your machines rollers by using the document itself as a barrier. Afterwards, you simply trim the document so it is flush with the lamination. When using this method you should keep in mind that you will be doing this extra trimming so it would be a best practice to adjust your design/document accordingly.

Trimming

In all these situations, you'll need to trim your projects to size. We recommend a guillotine cutter or rotary trimmer for this to get crisp straight lines. Kraft paper projects will be easier to trim to the edge, where you may have to trim off more using the back-to-back or narrow approach.

Troubleshooting and Preventing Problems

1. Adhesive causes a roll laminator jam. The number one issue you will run into is that if you aren’t careful you will end up with that pesky adhesive on the rollers. This likely will cause your film to wrap around the rollers of your laminator creating a jam. If this happens, it is not the end of the world. Try to catch the adhesive before it causes a full jam and clean it using adhesive cleaning tools. If you didn’t catch it soon enough, check out this article on how to fix the jam.

1. The one-sided lamination project is curling. Large single sided laminators are designed with special features that help to negate this curl. If you don’t have the option of a true single sided laminator, you can use a nylon lay flat laminating film, that is designed for single sided applications, with your roll laminator. You still may end up with some curl but it should be significantly reduced.

1. The lamination won’t stick. Many laminating films, even lay flat nylon films are not designed to adhere to digital output. The high fuser oil content of many digital prints does not lend itself to lamination. When you flush trim a digital print that is laminated with many of these films the laminate will begin to peel off the print. As a solution to this problem, it is highly recommended that you consider running a Hi Tac laminating film that is specifically formulated for digital output.

You now should have an idea of how to accomplish one sided lamination with your roll laminator and get the best results. If you need supplies or a machine to do this, we highly recommend calling us at