Laminating Foils and Foil Machine

The best laminators for foiling will share a few features, including adjustable heat settings that can achieve a minimum of 300° F, customizable speed, heat rollers in place of heat plates, and the ability to handle thick lamination pouches of at least 10mil. 

In order to give you some interesting ideas for the kinds of foil prints you may generate with a pouch laminating machine and our toner reactive foils, let's take a moment to drool over some of the amazing foilings I have done using the SpeedyLam (the first laminator I list below). 

SpeedyLam 330R Pouch Laminator 

Even when printing text with thinner lines, the SpeedyLam 330R pouch laminating machine creates flawlessly foiled documents. You can adapt it to precisely meet your foiling needs with customizable heat and speed settings. This is crucial since the amount of heat and the time it is heated can differ slightly based on the type of foil you are using and even the paper stock you printed on (transparent foils, for instance, frequently require a little more heat and a longer heating time to adhere successfully). It’s no coincidence that “speedy” is in the name. It provides the highest-quality output while working at the fastest desktop pouch laminating device in its class, up to 12 feet every minute. The finest foil laminating is produced, along with beautifully laminated photos and prints of every kind. It is unquestionably a magnificent work of foiling and lamination paradise. 

To learn more about the SpeedyLam or to purchase it online, click here. 

Sprinter-Lam 335R6 Pouch Laminator 

The Sprinter-Lam 335R6 is less expensive than the SpeedyLam and is produced by the same company, Spiral. They produce these high-end laminating devices that are superior to every other brand I have used. Even the SprinterLam is an excellent laminator for foiling (and laminating!), even though it retails for less than half the price of the Speedy. Additionally, this machine is extremely quick, moving up to 3-1/2 feet per minute, and it has all the programmable parameters required to produce the strongest foil. Another bonus feature of the SprinterLam 335 pouch laminator is the ability to store 2 programs into memory; so, once you tweak the heat and speed settings for a specific kind of paper stock and foil that you use most often, you can save that setting for quick-recall the next time you need to foil. To find out more about the Sprinter-Lam or to order one online, click here.  

ProLam Ultra Pouch Laminator 

The ProLam Ultra is produced by Akiles, a separate company. They are renowned for their pouch laminating machines, such as this one, and other paper-finishing equipment. It costs a little less than the SprinterLam but still has the customizable heat and speeds you need for laminating foil. It is an excellent option for foil laminating since it has a high-quality and full 6-roller system for even, continuous heat from the beginning of your sheet to the end of your sheet. This system was specifically created to perform well with traditionally difficult-to-laminate photo paper. To find out more information about the ProLam Ultra or to purchase it online, click here. 

All-in-all

The four laminators I've talked about are affordable for offices and enterprises of all sizes, but what about home foiling by individuals and crafters? Will laminators that don't fit these requirements work? Sure! There's a good chance that alternative laminators will function as well; some of our customers use inexpensive craft store laminators with a single heat setting, running their foil over 2-3 times until the right amount of heat is applied; other customers even just use a regular household iron. If you get inventive with a heating element, you can foil laminate without laminators as long as you do it safely at all times. However, buying one of these devices, which have been tried and approved as some of the best laminators for foiling, will be your best choice for the highest quality, most robust, and secure foil. 

Before you head out, check out this blog post on how to foil laminate. When foil laminating, there are a ton of options and factors to consider in order to achieve the greatest results. It covers topics including how to foil laminate, how to print for foil laminating, what paper to use, how to make your laminator work better, and how to apply foil to specific project portions. You can also peek at this article about how you can foil laminate with multiple foil colors. It has step-by-step instructions on how you can add multiple colors to your documents, cards, or certificates. It only takes a few minutes to complete and you don’t need expensive dies. If you’re ready to get started, head here to discover the laminating foil best for your projects.