How To Laminate Cards?

[aurarcana]

Originally Posted by Babalon Jones

Do you know what the thickness of the laminate cartridge is? I'm looking for one that does thinner as in 1.5 ml, but it does not say what those are...

The cartridge that comes with the Xyron XRN900 is one sided adhesive. You will need double sided adhesive (2-sided laminate) for both sides of the card.

I'm going to visit Michaels today and see what they have.

[aurarcana]

I printed up a 40% off coupon from Michaels and went to a store naeraby. I discovered and bought the 5" Xyron XRN510, so that I can do each card one at time. It was $49.99, but with the coupon, I walked out with it for $32, the same as the price on Amazon. It makes more sense to me instead of the 9" Xyron XRN900 and it will take up less space.

I ordered the double sided adhesive cartridges from Amazon and got a 4 for 3 deal with free shipping: 4 Xyron Double-Sided Laminate Refill, 2.7 mm, 5 Inches x 18 Feet for $41 . They were $20 each at Michaels and the only way I would have saved money is by printing and attempting to use the 40% off coupon each time, which would have been risky considering they only officially allow 1 coupon per customer per day. Not worth the hassle.

Funny, I could have just ordered the unit that I bought at Michaels for around the same cost, but I'm glad I supported my local Michaels. I saved $2 - a cup of coffee .

At 18" ft, I can get 72 cards done, so that means I will need just over 2 cartridges per deck, making each deck cost just over $20 to laminate - not too bad.

I will start the project later this week once the cartridges arrive. I'll post photos once I tackle it, after I practice on a deck of playing cards first.

ETA: The double sided adhesive laminate that I purchased and referenced above is acid-free!

[aurarcana]

Originally Posted by Babalon Jones

Do you know what the thickness of the laminate cartridge is? I'm looking for one that does thinner as in 1.5 ml, but it does not say what those are...

An update after seeing the cartridge boxes in person at a store:

The hot lamination sheets are thicker, and the cold ones don't have a measurement on them. It makes sense that the cold laminator sheets would be more flexible though considering the heat would make them a bit more stiff.

[LavenderLibra]

I look forward to reading your experience with this! Are there different cartridges, glossy vs. matte?

[aurarcana]

Originally Posted by LavenderLibra

I look forward to reading your experience with this! Are there different cartridges, glossy vs. matte?

Yes, there are differences between the matte and glossy, both which are available in the 2 sided double adhesive type.

I went with the glossy--even though I think I prefer matte in theory--because I know what the glossy looks like (like the Illuinmated Tarot). Plus, the matte cartridges weren't available on Amazon with free shipping, or the 4 for 3 deal. But, if I plan a project ahead of time and use the 40% Michaels coupons, I can try the matte ones at a later time and get them for $12 each.

The Xyron XRN900 may be the better buy since you can by 50 ft. cartridges, whereas the smaller unit only takes 18 ft. cartridges, but I feel better about doing one card at a time.

I hope everything works easily!

[gregory]

I would LOVE to find matte pouches for my hot laminator. I have a cold one (cheap on ebay, almost new !) but have never actually got around to using it... I know where to get them, but a cartridge is so expensive I keep thinking - what if I hate it....

ETA AMAZON has them for $12 ? Must check that.... I hope they come in A4 as well as letter width, as you might say...

[aurarcana]

Originally Posted by gregory

I would LOVE to find matte pouches for my hot laminator. I have a cold one (cheap on ebay, almost new !) but have never actually got around to using it... I know where to get them, but a cartridge is so expensive I keep thinking - what if I hate it....

ETA AMAZON has them for $12 ? Must check that.... I hope they come in A4 as well as letter width, as you might say...

I have the 5" Xyron, so if you have the 9", make sure you look for those cartridges! The prices are very reasonable. Yes, they have the letter size, just look up the ones for the XRN900. The cartridges are on their way already, so I should have them soon (depending where they shop from). It looks like I'll be able to get started sometime mid-week .

There's demo video (select the Related Videos tab) of the 9" on the Xyron web site using the 2 sided double adhesive glossy. Looks super simple to use.

By the way, the matte sheets are matte on one side and glossy on the other. That may be strange to use come to think of it...

[gregory]

I'm after A4 size RATHER than letter.... but thanks. (Mine is wide enough for a sheet of A$ - not sure about letter and I am not with the thing just now !)

[tarotlyn]

One problem I've had with cold lamination, is that after you USE your
deck a LOT, some of the 'top, right' corners separate. Looking at these separated corners,
it shows that the cold laminate kind of fluffs up or curls slightly up and pulls
on the card stock paper and it is, actually, the card stock paper that separates
in the center of itself...while the laminate is still stuck to the image and has
pulled it away from the card stock, while leaving most of the card stock
adhered to the back side laminate.

I use both the Xyron9 " and the Xyron5 "laminators (and I think the laminate
'rolls' are around 1.3 to 1.49 mil) and I use a card stock that's 12 mil thickness.

I also have a hot/cold combination laminator that does both cold and hot
lamination 'POUCHES.'

I found the difference between hot lamination and cold lamination is:

* Hot Lamination:
When you cut your card out (after hot lamination), you have to leave a slight
lamination edge (I hate that look!) because only the edges of the laminate are
sealed and stick together to 'seal the card INSIDE the pouch' and the pouch
does not adhere to the card stock itself very well. I found that you can easily
peel it off the card.

So, in other words, if you cut your border right up to the edge of the card image,
the hot lamination pouch will probably peel away from the card stock eventually.
AND...even the 3 mil hot pouches leave the card really stiff. I believe the
'heat' leaves any thickness of lamination 'much' stiffer than the cold
lamination process.

* Cold Lamination:
You can cut the card all the way to the edge of the image and the lamination
adheres to the whole card stock, but as I mentioned above, 'after' using the
cards a lot (even over hand mixing...not regular shuffling) and even being careful,
the lamination tends to fluff and to pull the card stock apart in the middle.

I read about this problem in an online article, (wish I could find it again! )
and I think I remember the writer saying that she just used some kind of
glue (wish I remembered which glue! ) and glued the separated
card stock on the corners and it was as good as new...but I worry about it
bleeding into the image 'from the inside' of the card stock...anyone know
what would be a good glue for this? I am thinking maybe 'leather' adhesive,
which is flexible... guess I need to experiment with this

Other thoughts:
By the way, A4 is: 210 mm (width) by 297 mm (height) or 8.27 in. (width) by 11.69 in. (height)

Also, what about checking into the protective pouches used by the 'baseball card' collectors?
I think they are thick too, but maybe they also have the thinner thicknesses
and hopefully for lamination machines?
...just a thought...haven't check that out yet...

tarotlyn

[gregory]

Originally Posted by tarotlyn

One problem I've had with cold lamination, is that after you USE your deck a LOT, some of the 'top, right' corners separate. Looking at these separated corners, it shows that the cold laminate kind of fluffs up or curls slightly up and pulls on the card stock paper and it is, actually, the card stock paper that separates in the center of itself...while the laminate is still stuck to the image and has pulled it away from the card stock, while leaving most of the card stock adhered to the back side laminate.

That is EXACTLY what I was afraid of - thanks for that !

But I don't leave an edge with my hot lamination - I DO run each individual card through again after I do it, which (so far at least) seems to seal the edges OK. But they are a bit thick (my pouches are um -150 microns, I think they say. Not got them here, so...)