How To Fold Laminated Paper Properly : Easy Steps To Follow

What would you do if you have to guarantee the wholeness of a piece of paper that has value? Well, if that is the question for me I will promptly answer Lamination without beating my brain out. I assume that would be the response for most of the people who love crafting or have a DIY attitude. Lamination is a simple and affordable technology that has triggered a revolution in the printing industry.   

However, every innovation comes with its own troubles. In terms of lamination, it is folding. Indeed, it’s not an issue that pops up every now and then. There are very few scopes where we need to fold laminated paper. Nevertheless, if you belong to that small group of people who need to fold laminated paper, but don’t know how to fold laminated paper, we are here to assist.

What Is Lamination?

Simply put, lamination is a technique to add multiple layers to a material. In general, for paper and printed documents, plastic is used as a laminating agent in order to achieve enhanced stability and durability. In the printing industry, it’s termed as the process of attaching filmy plastic onto the printed document.

How To Fold Laminated Paper

The process involves a layer or more of see-through plastic permanently being attached to the original document. The most common practice is bonding films on either side of the printed piece, thereby the piece is totally enclosed in plastic. Usually, we laminate paper that gets in frequent touch, for example, any form of identity card, restaurant menu, price list and more.     

Apart from that, it has widespread use in the automobile industry too. Car manufacturers often use it to create shatterproof windows where the plastic remains sealed between two thin sheets of glass.

Why We Laminate

In plain words, we laminate to protect. Protect from adversity. In some cases, apart from protecting, lamination is also used to enhance durability in a range of industries. In the printing industry, for example, laminating paper is a widely practiced method to strengthen the paper.

can you fold a laminated paper


We usually laminate printed pieces to protect them from various external issues. Indeed, issues that might lead to shortened life expectancy than usual such as stains, smudges, moisture, wrinkles, and tears. Other than that, you will often find laminated pages in a salesperson’s “flip” book, while the cover of the same book is also often laminated.

Moreover, the colors of the printed piece appear more brilliantly when laminated. In dirty and damp places lamination is the only option left to protect printed pieces. Wherever you see a machine there must be an operating instruction which without any doubt is laminated.

Other sets of most commonly found laminated papers in a factory include safety and emergency symbols, factory rules, reusable tags, etc. All these printed pieces are very important for an uninterrupted operation of a manufacturing plant. You can’t just print and put them on the board or on the machine every day. The best thing is you don’t necessarily need to, if you laminate them before putting them on the machine.     

However, if the surrounding seems damp or oily then the best practice would be to extend the laminating film 1/8″ to 1/2″ beyond the edge of the printed piece. This particularly enforces a strong bond to the top and bottom layers. As an outcome, moisture, oil and dirt stays away from the printed piece.  

How To Fold Laminated Paper?

Usually, we leave the laminated paper as it is. Nevertheless, there are moments when folding a laminated paper becomes necessary. As it’s not a regular practice people have doubts regarding how to fold laminated paper and often hesitate to do it by themselves. But, we can assure you that it is a simple process should you have the required tools accessible.

How To Fold Laminated Paper


In order to fold a laminated paper you are going to need a paper scorer, a laminator and a scoreboard. First, determine the size of the paper that’s going to be laminated. If you have predetermined positions where you want to fold you are half done. Pick a lamination sheet in accordance with the paper size. Now, crease the paper using the paper scorer. Crease it along the predetermined lines. Create as many lines as you want.

There is a common and popular practice of creating laminated envelopes. For that, after you score you need to flip it and line it up with the line you have already created and go all the way around. Now you have a paper creased to be laminated. Bring the laminator, put the paper inside the laminating sheet and run it through the laminator.

When you are done move the laminator out of the way and bring the scoreboard in. Trim off all the excess on the side using the scoreboard. Now you have a paper that is laminated and can be folded. Go ahead and fold it on the creases. Remember, never rush during folding. It potentially could cause crack. Fold it slowly along the creases so that it doesn’t get wired. Do it for all the creases you have created.     

Laminating At Home

In modern day living, it’s hard to evade the use of lamination or laminated paper. Virtually in every aspect of life wherever you need to build a protective shield around a piece of paper lamination is the only viable option. Running to the computer store each time is truly an annoyance. If you are running a business on your own then it’s simply impracticable.

how to laminate paper at home without a machine


Whether you run your business from home or manage a small office, what we suggest is having a laminator of your own. Apart from business use, we have a range of other personal purposes where we need a laminator. You might be worrying about how to manage a laminator at home. Well, it’s as simple as operating a printer at home.

Laminators could be of many kinds. Depending on their types, operation might vary a bit. Before you proceed make sure that the size of the paper you are about to laminate will fit inside the lamination pocket. Now bring in the laminator and switch it on. When the ready light is on your device is ready to do business.

Take the lamination sheet and place the piece of paper that needs to be laminated in it. Make sure that the paper has enough clearance on the outer edges. Now place it on the lamination pocket. The laminator itself will take it inside. Wait until it’s completely done and you will get the finished product on the other side of the laminator.     

If the laminating sheet allows, you can laminate multiple paper or cards at a time. If there is enough space available to place two or more cards in a single sheet, place multiple items at once. You can cut them to pieces when lamination is done. Just ensure that each piece has enough clearance from others so that when you separate them the lamination doesn’t get hurt.   

Fixing Bad Lamination

If you laminate regularly you already have encountered several errors while laminating, one thing for sure. Sometimes the lamination starts to peel back immediately after the lamination is done. Besides, on many occasions we ruin the lamination during the trimming of excess laminating sheets around the printing piece. A slightly deep cut can cause separation of the upper and lower sheet.

How To Fold Laminated Paper

Peeling back is a frequently occurred incident and results in a sizable amount of waste at the end of the month. However, if not avoided, you can reduce that by at least 80 percent. A bad lamination not only costs paper and laminating sheets, but also effort as well. A simple hack that can be practiced at home can potentially save you a considerable amount of money as well as effort.   

It’s almost certain that you have an iron machine at home. Make it to fix your bad lamination or peeled over issue. You can iron the laminating materials, but not at a regular setting. Choose a very cool setting without steam on your iron so that it couldn’t result in a melt-down of plastic sheets. You can’t even just apply the heated iron on the laminating sheet directly.

Place the laminated piece at an even surface. Place a sheet of oven paper in between the iron and laminating sheet. If that seems inadequate, place a couple of other sheets of thick card over that. Now roll the iron over it. Check frequently whether the plastic sheet is ok or not. If any sign of abnormality becomes visible, stop rolling. If the process comes out as promising, continue until your project gets back to good condition.

In addition to that, laminated paper sometimes gets curved. To address that, up to date devices have a built-in mechanism called “de-curling”. If yours one doesn’t equipped with that feature then you have to exercise traditional methods. In that case the best option left is to remove the lamination from the paper and laminate it again.

However, if you found this process bothersome you can simply try what I did last time when I found myself in a similar situation. Put that under something heavy for a while. It’s highly likely that the piece will get back to its regular state.

Nevertheless, should the laminated piece warped (curved) in only one direction, applying iron only on the inside of the curve would yield a better result. Since, in order to flatten it all out only the inner side of the curve needs to be expanded. If you wish to avoid events like curving and all, as a precautionary measure you can simply put laminated sheets under heavy objects right after the lamination, when they are still warm.

Removing Lamination From Paper

Error is a part of work. No one can get away without making mistakes and it’s true for every business. In terms of laminating, correcting those errors could be troublesome. Nonetheless, if you are open to accept the errors and have the due intention to correct them, trouble will turn into usual business for you. In addition to that, there is a fair amount of chance that you mess up with lamination and starting over again is the only option left.

How To Fold Laminated Paper

However, errors can be of many kinds. There are some that can be fixed with normal practices. But, there are others which demand a do over. For lamination, removing lamination from paper is considered as the final remedy. Now the question is how to remove lamination from a paper. Keep your fear aside and follow the guide we’ve created on how to remove lamination from your paper.

  • Apply Heat

You can do it in two ways. But, the best thing is all you need to apply heat is some basic household appliances.

With Iron: Using an iron is one of the most reliable methods of removing lamination from paper which has gone wrong. Wondering how? It’s simple. Cover the plastic with a rag or piece of cloth so that the plastic doesn’t melt when heat is being applied to warm the plastic. Now run the iron over the cloth a few times. The steam generated from the iron will make the lamination peel off from the paper.

can you remove lamination from paper

With Hair Dryer: Using a hair dryer to remove lamination might sound kind of weird, but it’s a technique that proved effective in this regard. First, cut the edge of the laminated piece. Now blow hot air with the hair dryer on to the lamination. When the lamination gets heated properly and the air is passing through the paper and plastic, you are done. Peeling the edges of the lamination away is a matter of time now.

  • Scissors

When it comes to taking off lamination, using a scissor is by far the most handy and effortless method. If the lamination extends further past the edges of the paper, have your scissor to cut it off. Start with a slit in the lamination. Now peel the edges off of the laminating sheet. Once the edges are completely separated removing lamination from paper is a matter of time now.

How To Fold Laminated Paper

Is Lamination Costly?

Well, as lamination is a process that enhances the safety and stability of a paper it is definitely going to cost you something. But, we can’t just term it as costly. The conveniences involved make us feel that it’s fair enough to spend at least the minimum to access the advantages. Depending on paper size and project’s volume cost might vary.

How To Fold Laminated Paper

Apart from that, there is a notable dissimilarity between laminating at home and laminating at a store. It’s true that people will miss the professional touch while laminating at home. However, not every project demands a professional hand to be taken care of. That doesn’t necessarily mean that you will keep laminating complex projects at home. For a sophisticated task you have to pay for the expertise.  

It’s hard to determine how much laminating a standard page of 8.5″ x 11″ at home actually cost. Nevertheless, at a computer store it usually costs roughly $ 0.5 to $2. In addition to that, thickness of laminating sheets is also a key determiner of how much a piece is going to cost. For standard size papers a 3 mil film is about to cost you $1.00, which is $1.50 and $2.00 for 5 mil and 10 mil film respectively.

How Long Laminated Paper Can Hold For?

In terms of use and appearance, a laminated paper is thought to have a prolonged lifespan. Lamination, indeed an extra layer of protection that is sometimes used to enhance the way an item looks. With so many variables that could influence this, answering it comprehensively is often a difficult task. With regards to item, use, and surroundings, longevity might vary. When handled cautiously and stored correctly laminated paper can withstand the test of time and the extended life of the item could be many years.

How To Fold Laminated Paper

Lamination, nowadays, is being used across industries where printing, automobile and wooden floor manufacturing are the notable mentions. Products made of paper such as business cards, restaurant menus, and various documents are direct beneficiaries of lamination. Paper products last for years when laminated and the environmental elements are in favor. However, if kept in dirty and damp conditions, longevity of lamination gets shortened quite significantly.

Also Read: Best Affordable Inkjet Printer for Cricut



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