How to Use a Laminator

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I big puffy heart love my laminator and I get questions on their ease of use and what exactly to use them for so I made a step by step tutorial on how to use a laminator and share my tips and tricks for laminating solid sheets of paper vs cut-outs and all the things you can laminate! Let’s get started!

Home Laminator with small house plant

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Types of Laminating Sheets

Besides the size differences mentioned above in the supply list, there is also the pouch thickness of the laminating sheets.

3-millimeter sheets are thinner pouches and great for everyday use. Think chore charts, medicine charts, school papers, etc. Then there are 5-millimeter options that are a thicker pouch and more heavy-duty so think covers for art journals, DIY planner covers, or for use with thicker paper.

Home laminators are small in size. They are similar to an older inkjet printer. It is super lightweight and the controls are pretty basic. Buttons may be digitized and there may be an LCD display on more expensive laminators.

Mine has an on/off switch then a switch to choose the thickness of your laminating pouches and then a power and ready light. Basic works best for me!

Close up of Control buttons and ready lights

The power light illuminates when you turn the on/off switch to on and when the machine has warmed up, the ready light will come on.

While the machine is warming up, you can prepare your items to be laminated.

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Laminating Full Sheets

Laminator Pouches and Chore Chart Printables

The laminating pouch is a plastic pouch that is open on 3 sides with a folded edge. You will carefully slide in the item you would like laminated from an open end of the pouch. I am laminating some chore charts I picked up at the dollar store here. Be sure to place your paper in the center part of the pouch.

Close up of Chore Chart Printable inside the laminating pocket

Then you will feed the pouch and item into your laminator with the folded side of the pouch entering the laminator first. You feed on the top of the slot and it laminates and passes out the bottom of the machine.

Laminator Laminating a Chore Chart

When it completes you will have a completely laminated item.

Laminated chore chart, dry erase marker and laminator

Laminating Small Items Within a Smaller Laminating Pouch

You can laminate smaller items with the appropriate sized laminating pouches same as I demonstrated with the letter-sized.

For example, a business card using a business card-sized laminating pouch.

You will just be sure to adjust the movable guides on the machine to make sure it feeds straight into the laminator

Laminating Multiple Small Items Within a Large Pouch

I decided to laminate some hearts I cut to put in my window for the quarantine heart hunters. They were all variable sizes and I only had my letter-size laminating pouches. No problem!

You can use this method on paper pieces or shapes or a smaller sheet of paper like post-it notes.

I laid out the hearts throughout the letter-sized pouch making sure to leave at least 3/4″ area between each heart.

Laminator with letter sized pouch with smaller hearts placed spread out in the letter sized pouch

Carefully, I sent the pouch through the laminator the same as above with the sealed side of the pouch first to enter the laminator machine.

Laminator in process of laminating

Notice there is a small seam around the hearts. This will be smaller or larger depending on the thickness of the item you are laminating. Thicker paper = larger seam and lower speed.

Close up of small lamination seam around object

Using scissors, you can now cut out your smaller objects. Be sure you do not cut that small seam area. That will cause your lamination to open. Cut just outside of it. If your smaller paper pieces are straight-edged, you can utilize a paper trimmer.

Cutting out small laminated items