Lamination – is it just a top layer?

[Rodney Gold]

Depends , vinyls can be encapsulated as encapsulation uses a hot method of applying lams , ie there is a clear rigid layer with a glue that melts via heat and pressure onto the substrate. There is a hot melt type lam sutable for vinyl (only one side) and that melts a layer of a protective on the vinyl without a top covering. Its cheap and fairly duable but you need a laminator that has hot rollers with adjustable temps to do it , it uses a much lower temp than hot lams (the stuff you see menues etc laminated in)
You can laminate single sided or double sided , depending on the substrate.
For vinyl you get both cast and callendered pvc as well as a polymeric type. It is a pvc film with pressure sensitive adhesive that bonds to the vinyl after being run thru rollers , you get various patterns and finishes from gloss to matte etc. You can actually print on the overlams as well.
what you use is dependant on lighting and how the vinyl is to be used , for example if doing a vehicle wrap you would use a cast conformable lam with a cast conformable vinyl etc.

[expressgraphics]

Hi Marek,

it’s never a daft question if you don’t know, better to ask and then be informed than guess the answer and make a fool of yourself.

Graphic laminates come in two forms, liquid or solid for want of a better description. Liquid is self explanatory, comes in a can and can be brushed, rollered, sprayed, screen printed or if you have the cash, can be applied by a liquid laminating machine. The print is fed through these and a controlled thickness of laminate is applied and dried.
Solid laminates come on rolls usually and can be hand applied or by a roll laminator machine. These are pressure sensitive, either cold applied or heat activated.

So what do they do? Well they offer a degree of resistance to damage by abrasion, some have UV inhibitors to prevent the print being degraded by sunlight or are simply used to add a decorative finish to the print.
They are applied to the printed side of the graphic as you say but paper prints can also be encapsulated, were a layer of heat activated laminate is applied to either side of the print.

I hope this helps answer some of your question.
All the best,
John.

[Marekdlux]

Thanks Rodney and John. Much appreciated.
-Marek