BEST FILM TO USE FOR COLD LAMINATOR TO AVOID BUBBLES

[NYPP]

Hi All, Currently have a VT9600 Cold Laminator. I am using an Avery Luster Laminate and every time we laminate something we see very small bubbles on the item. An associate told me that this is because we are using a cold laminator and not a heat assisted one. Not in a position to purchase another machine at the moment. Is there any specific laminating film that would alleviate the bubbling issue on a cold laminator? Thanks in advance for your assistance.

 

[a77]

Slower with more pressure helps in my experience.
Heat does help.
With time, they should go away as the adhesive wets out. People call this silvering. Usually higher quality laminates silver less in my experience.

 

[Solventinkjet]

What kind of bubbles are you getting? Most people are using cold laminators these days so you should be able to get good results with your machine. If they are tiny bubbles, it's most likely dust and you can just get an air compressor to help blow off the particles or even a swiffer to dust the prints as they run through. Bigger bubbles will be caused by improper webbing of the machine, damaged rollers, not enough pressure and/or bad laminate.

 

[qmr55]

Post a picture.

We have heat assist laminators and rarely ever use the heat. See no need for it in 95% of applications.

 

[strypguy]

+1 for VanderJ. We use a Swiffer as the prints run through the laminator and never get any contaminants in our prints. John

 

[ColoPrinthead]

IT SOUNDS TO ME LIKE YOU ARE TALKING ABOUT SILVERING, WHICH USUALLY GOES AWAY WITH TIME - BUT YES HEAT HELPS.

 

[ForerunnerJesse]

I think the silvering can lessen with time, given the right circumstances. With sun and heat, yes. Interior with no sun exposure, probably not. I have found that heat assist in the lamination process is the only way when using calendared laminates.

 

[rjssigns]

Cast or calendared lam we run our RS(cold) dead slow. Swiffer duster works a treat.

 

[coastguy111]

When do anyone use heat assist?

Sent from my SM-G935V using Tapatalk

 

[Modern Ink Signs]

Check your laminator settings. Also what type of printer are you using? Are you allowing for our gassing if needed.


Coastguy....
We will use heat assist for floor graphics, trade show graphics. Those are thick, "stiff" laminates and helps with adhesion We will also laminate some of our DTS printed projects

 

[DerbyCitySignGuy]

When do anyone use heat assist?

Sent from my SM-G935V using Tapatalk

Laminating UV prints.

We use Avery Luster a LOT and never have any issues, save those actually caused by us.

 

[johnnysigns]

Silvering definitely goes away, although it can be a tough sell to the client if the prints are fresh. We let parts rest as long as possible before presenting to the client. This is PS lam on digital UV prints.

 

[Patentagosse]

When using laminate film with synthetic liner (such as Oracal 290GF or 3M 8518), you'll get NO silvering, and very li'l with their 290G. You'll observe more of it using calendred ones, whatever the brand.

With the right settings (pressure), the silvering goes away pretty fast (half day laying on the table)