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What do I do without a laminator??
After doing all my printing it would be nice to laminate but i don’t have a laminator. Is there another alternative?? I know you can use liquid laminate but its too much hassle so what else is there which could be done??
I recently came across something called the big squeegee. I’m not entirely sure but could something like this be used to laminate some how??
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15 Replies
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buy a laminator and don’t look back. when you have had one for ten mins you will wonder why the hell you did’t get one sooner.
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Then again – you could always laminate by hand.
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Phill how can this be done??
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baby shampoo, water and squeegee. Do a wet application over the print.
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Wouldn’t fancy doing that on a roll of wrap prints 🙂
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I’ve been using a product called "Clearshield" a waterbased product you roll on. It looks milky and bad on application but dries smooth and crystal clear, easy to use and I’ve had it on signs in the tropics for quite some time now and all is good.
You can read about it here
http://www.clearstarcorp.com/clearshield.asp
hope this helps
Terry
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How long does this take to dry completely? Where do you leave the prints to dry – don’t you have problems with dust etc sticking to the wet laminate?
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hi we use clear shield products all the time. Works very well and much cheaper than film lam.
Our marktet will not allow the extra cost of a film lam. You can buy liquid lam machines but they are expensive and you need large volume because you need to set it up each time to want to laminate. other wise it dries up.
The clear shield lam dries very quickly and we have has no problem with dust. We have a very dusty environment as well. We live in a desert.
😀we apply it with a high density foam roller. The key is to not be shy with the laminate dont try and make it too thin. at first you see bubble but as it drys the bubbles go away and you get a glass like finish.
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Had my printer for a year and did all my laminating by hand with application fluid (water and baby soap).
After spending many hours getting the bench wet and my legs I just had to get a laminator, after the first 10 mins I thought i would never get the hang of the laminator, 30min later wished I had brought it a year ago !!.One thing that i have noticed is if doing wet app of lamination film you need to leave if before contour cutting as the film has not bonded to the vinyl print as well if its been done dry and can cause alignment problems as the rollers sit on the part thats just been laminated, just done 6 meters of lam and this would have taken 4 times the amount of time and now the bench is dry !!
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Where is the best place to look for a laminator??
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You really need a laminator, I find them more difficult to operate than any other piece of equipment we have though!
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Laminators are another minefield, get a good one or you will mess up more prints than you ever will by hand.
Once you get it set up right and are used to it then it really takes minutes and is so simple.
Also I would recommend one with a heated top roller as this will totally eliminate silvering. -
Here is a secondhand one that will last for years.
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have a hot press 26” for sale here!!
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Ive been using my laminator for 2 years and its broke my heart many times. Ive found lately if i use the heat it works better.
Also recently started using it to mount print onto boards, i soon wondered why the hell have i been struggling for years and the answer is…
Ive now put a reflector in front of the laser that cuts the laminator out, by passing it, but it means i can mount 8×4 print without it erroring and they are perceft with not one single bubble!
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