How to clean my roll laminator?

If your school or business has a roll laminator, chances are it’s used quite a bit and could use some routine maintenance. Caring for your laminator is pretty simple, but it’s important to do it regularly and correctly. Here are some maintenance tips to help you care for your roll laminator.

First, you need to clean the machine’s rollers. Every time you laminate, a little bit of adhesive seeps out and coats the rollers. As time goes by, the adhesive builds up, which can cause jams and possibly damage your machine. It’s not hard to clean the rollers, but you need to be careful when you do it. For on thing, you should never use anything sharp and pointed to clean your machine. If the rollers get nicked by the sharp object, they’ll get damaged and they’re pretty expensive to replace. You should clean the rollers on a regular basis, not only to prolong the life of your machine, but because it’s a lot easier to remove newer deposits than hardened, older ones.

To clean your laminator, remove the film from the machine, and then preheat the laminator to get it warmed up. Then use a 3M Scotch-Brite scrubbing pad and scrub off the hardened adhesive with the rollers rotating on the lowest speed. Be very careful when doing this – the rollers will be very hot and it’s really easy to burn yourself. The actual cleaning part isn’t that hard, but it will take a little bit of patience and work to get rid of all traces of the adhesive. When you’re done, re-load the film (or insert a fresh roll) and you’ll be ready to start laminating again.

As for how often you should clean your roll laminator, every three to six months is a good rule of thumb. Of course, if you’re using your laminator a lot and the glue is really starting to build up, you should clean it more often. And if you improperly load your laminating film or you accidentally wrap film around the machine’s rollers, you’ll have to clean your machine before you can use it for anything else.

Other things that will keep your laminator in good working order include always following the manufacturer’s instructions and not using the laminator to laminate things other than paper and photographs. For example, you should never laminate three-dimensional objects such as wood, plastic, and the like. Also, don’t ever laminate items that have glitter on them. Glitter can be very bad for your laminator as it can get imbedded in the rollers and then they’ll be useless because they won’t be able to transfer heat anymore. Then you need to either repair or replace you machine, which could be costly.

Roll laminator maintenance is pretty easy and just about anyone can do it. All you really need to do is scrape the old adhesive off the rollers and you’ll be ready to start laminating again. If it’s been a while since you took care of your machine, do it today and enjoy having a long working relationship with your roll laminator.

Related Knowledgebase Articles
Can I use wire with my comb binding machine?
Krish Technologies posted this on Jun 30, 2015

< Over the years, a number of customers have asked me whether they can use twin loop wire with their plastic comb binding machine. These customers often don’t want to have to buy a brand new machine but like the look and feel of twin loop wire binding. However, the answer to their question isn’t as simple as it seems. You see, they actually do make twin loop wire that is designed to work with the plastic comb binding hole pattern. With that said, if you want to use these wires you are going to need a way to close the wires. What is Spiral-O Wire? Let me explain a little bit more…There is a product that we carry called Spiral-O Wire. This wire has 19 loops and is designed to work with the hole pattern from a plastic comb binding machine. Spiral-O Wire is sometimes called Wire Combs or Ibico Wire and was originally designed for use with some of the older Ibico binding machines. A number of the older Ibico plastic comb binding machines also included a twin loop wire closer on the front of them to allow users to use both plastic combs and wire. This 19 loop wire was designed for this purpose. What Equipment is Needed? As the Ibico brand has been phased out by GBC and all of the older Ibico plastic binding machines have been replaced with new models, they no longer have the twin loop wire closer on the front of them. This presents a problem in trying to use these spiral-o wires since you can’t use the wires without a way to close them. One of the only options left is to purchase a Twin Loop wire closer. However, since twin loop wire closers are not incredibly cheap this option usually only appeals to users who have larger electric plastic comb binding machines. Otherwise, it is often advisable to simply buy a low end 3:1 pitch twin loop wire binding machine (the supplies are cheaper). This being said, if you have one of the older Ibico binding machines that has a wire closer included you are in luck. The Spiral-O binding supplies that we carry will work perfectly with your machine and you will be able to use both plastic combs and wire depending on your needs. These Spiral-O binding supplies are available in Black, Silver, White, Blue and Red and in sizes up to 1″ in diameter. If you aren’t sure what type of wire binding supplies that you need to work with your machine simply give us a call. Our trained sales representatives will be glad to help you find the correct supplies for use with your machine.(Read More)

How to clean my roll laminator?
posted this on Jun 30, 2015

(Read More)

How can I change the film on my roll laminator?
Production MyBinding posted this on Jun 30, 2015

(Read More)

How to fix a jam on my pouch laminator?
posted this on Jun 30, 2015

(Read More)

What should I look for in a Laminator?
posted this on Jun 30, 2015

(Read More)

How do I use a carrier with my Pouch Laminator?
posted this on Jun 30, 2015

(Read More)

How should I use my pouch laminator?
posted this on Jun 30, 2015

(Read More)

How do I choose the right Laminating Pouch?
posted this on Jun 30, 2015

(Read More)

How do I laminate something with a Roll Laminator?
posted this on Jun 30, 2015

(Read More)

What are my options for binding half-sized documents?
posted this on Jun 30, 2015

(Read More)