Name: Thrive! NCHE Homeschool Conference
Start: 2025-05-22T00:00:00-05:00
End: 2025-05-24T23:59:59-05:00
Location: Winston-Salem, NC

Tagged: Laminator, organization

This topic has 13 replies, 8 voices, and was last updated 12 years, 11 months ago by chocodog.

Viewing 14 posts - 1 through 14 (of 14 total)

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June 11, 2012 at 1:58 pm
mrsmccardell
Participant
I’m thinking buying a laminator may be cheaper than heading to Staples every time…thoughts? Also, is there anything in particular you would say to look for when buying one? Thanks.
June 11, 2012 at 2:12 pm
sheraz
Participant
I bought my heat laminator at Walmart for $25. I do not need higher priced one and I love having this around. =) It has a release button so you can pull out a sheet if it is going in wrong or something is overlapping. We use our laminator all the time for school for lots of things, including wipe off sheets for writing practice. At home uses include things like laminating paper dolls, books, etc.
You can buy laminating sheets at https://www.laminator.com/ and get a fabulous price for them. The Walmart price is about 50 cents a sheet, and the price here comes to about 7 cents a sheet.
I use it all the time! And it saves me tons of money. I think that Staples is very expensive for some of these kind of office-type services.
June 11, 2012 at 4:35 pm
bethanna
Participant
Did you find that in the craft area of Walmart?
June 11, 2012 at 5:26 pm
suzukimom
Participant
In Canada, Laminators are in the Office Supplies section of Walmart (binders, pens, paper, etc area)
June 11, 2012 at 6:38 pm
Carolyn
Participant
I purchased one similar to this one at Costco over a year ago. It was under $20 and came with lots of sheets. It has worked well for us. HTH!
http://purplecows.net/shop/index.php/laminate-2/laminators.html
June 11, 2012 at 6:49 pm
sheraz
Participant
The laminator at my Walmart is in the Office Supply area, just like Canada. 😉
June 11, 2012 at 7:51 pm
chocodog
Participant
I bought a very nice one. It all depends on what you are going to do with it. I like to laminate larger things like posters. So I bought an APACHE AL18. You can get them on line at Amazon. I like it because I can do 10 mil laminating sheets. It has a reverse. It is a professional laminator. I love it. I also have heard that you can buy the rolls. You fold them over like a pouch type and laminate. Then you run a few peices of paper after it just incase there was any residue. I haven’t tried it yet but I will try it in the future. I have bought the laminating pouches for it. I have even ran them threw a couple of times. I have even put one inside another and made them thicker.
   I guess it is all what you want to do with it. I would suggest getting one that can do over a 12′ peice of paper though so you don’t have any problems with them on the edges. They will do a peice of regular paper as well.
         BLessings and good luck laminating!
June 11, 2012 at 8:04 pm
LDIMom
Participant
I bought the Wal-Mart laminator as well and LOVE IT! http://www.walmart.com/ip/Scotch-Thermal-Laminator-2-Roller/17208765
I buy refill sheets at Sam’s Club. I think they are about 10 cents a sheet, so I need to check out that other link.
I use my laminator a lot and feel like it saves me a lot of money b/c I don’t reprint stuff I already had.
June 11, 2012 at 8:05 pm
LDIMom
Participant
My laminator has a reverse and 8 1/2 x 11 sheets fit with space around all of the edges. I would love one that does larger sizes of paper though like 16 x 20 posters but I just couldn’t justify the cost.
June 11, 2012 at 9:37 pm
chocodog
Participant
I do agree it is expensive. They do usually go on sale around Thanksgiving. I think they were selling them for 49.00 for a black friday sale. I heard they have them on sale every year.
   I had a hard time justifing the cost at first until someone told me. “We are teachers. We are professionals in our feild and should have tools that reflect it. If you were a carpenter would you go into a job without a hammer? A plumber without a pipe wrench? We also have a variety of tools to add to our toolbox that make us more effective in our trade or skill.”
   Just because we didn’t get the degree from the High priced University doesn’t make our profession any less of a skill. We shouldn’t feel guily about having the supplies we need to run our school more effectively.
Of course we also know what we would like and can afford. This isn’t by any means to say we shouldn’t buy that $25 laminatior. However, if you see a future need for a larger one and you think that you might need a larger one. Then, IMA I would save the money and get the better tool so I am not wishing I didn’t make a mistake by not waiting. I personally did wait for awhile before I bought mine. In that time I researched what qualities I wanted in one. I looked at the prices, how they heated, the reveiws and comments. I called a few companies, looked at how hard it would be to get parts if it broke. ect…     This is how I came up with the laminator I found was right for me. So, my advice would be to take your time and see if that is really what you want and if you can find a better price.
    I recently done a laminating project for someone else that if I didn’t have my laminator it wouldn’t have looked so professional. I was happy that I purchased the larger one because it wouldn’t have fit in the 12′ one from Walmart. Mine is an 18 inch laminator. There are several different websites out there. They can tell you what laminator would be right for you.
     Just my $0.02 worth of info on my experiance. I hope I didn’t step on anyones toes I sure didn’t want to sound like someone should buy it just because I did. I just want it to be right for you before you get one you aren’t completely satisfied with, and wish you would have done the research, and bought the right tool for your trade.
         BLessings fellow teachers and happy laminating !
June 11, 2012 at 9:37 pm
simplyblessed
Member
That laminator.com link has a buy 2 get 1 free special right now. Those prices are much better for the pouches than walmart. Hmmm. what to do what to do.

June 11, 2012 at 9:55 pm
chocodog
Participant
Going to check it out now!! Oh , that is where I bought mine last time! Yes, it was a good deal then too… 🙂
Well, pleased with their laminating sheets. May have to get some more. 🙂
June 12, 2012 at 2:49 am
LDIMom
Participant
chocodog, no offense taken! I had two issues with getting the big and more expensive laminator: cost and no space to put it in.*sigh* I might have a wee bit of large laminator envy. Would you mind telling us which one you got? Or PMing me? I’d love to make note of it for future reference! I have been known to ask for things like office supply items for Christmas from my parents and my in-laws (who are friends with one another and don’t mind going in together). I might be putting a larger laminator on my wish list!
June 12, 2012 at 3:34 am
chocodog
Participant
I bought the Apache AL18 professional laminator. I bought it on Amazon and it shipped free. 🙂 It was about $140. You could put it on your wish list.    Maybe it will be cheaper at Thanksgiving time.
    It is the largest professional roller laminator that takes laminating sheets instead of rolls. Which means it will take up less space because you don’t have to have a place for the rolls. It is on the heavy side but you don’t have to worry about someone knocking it off of a table either. :). It is light enough though that you can pick it up and move it. It is all metal, No plastic parts to worry about breaking off. They are an American made company…     When you buy it on amazon if you have any problems with it they are happy to replace or refund it. It also has a temperature setting that you can control. It goes up well over 250 degrees and tells you when it is ready at that temp. Some of them don’t get that hot. Others don’t let you know when it is ready. It does 10 mil laminating sheets some only do up to 5 mil. You can put it threw more than once. I am sure there were more but that is what I can think of off the top of my head. It just seemed to hit all the good points I was looking for in a laminator. hope this info helps anyone who might be looking for a bigger laminator or happy with a smaller one. 🙂
      BLessings!