Almost every elementary school has a roll laminator sitting in their office, library or work room. However, many teachers and parent volunteers have no idea how to use the laminator. Laminating documents with this type of laminator is not really difficult. You just need to know how. This article is designed to provide a set of simple step by step instructions for laminating with your school laminator.

1. Turn on the laminator at the main power switch located at the back of the machine. If the machine does not turn on, be sure to check and make sure that the laminator is plugged into an outlet at the wall.

2. Make sure that the feed tray and the heat shield are in the proper position. If the feed tray is not installed correctly and the heat shield is not pulled down the laminator will not heat up and the rollers will not move.

3. Most laminators will default to the lowest heat setting when they are first turned on. You will most likely need to select the correct heat setting for the thickness of the film that you plan on using. You will also need to select the correct speed for the type of paper that you are planning on laminating. If you are laminating heavier stocks, you will need to run the laminator at a slower speed and if you are laminating lighter stocks you will need to choose a faster speed. Most laminators will have guidelines posted on the top of the machine that will tell you the appropriate speed and temperature settings. Follow these guidelines and adjust as needed.

4. Wait until the ready light on the laminator illuminates to let you know that the laminator is warmed up and ready to go. It can sometimes take as long as 10 minutes for the laminator to warm up so be patient.

5. Position the items to be laminated on the feed table.

6. Press RUN to start the rollers moving. Wait for the heat line to disappear and then push the items into the nip point of the heated rollers. You can continually feed items into the laminator without stopping the laminator. In order to maximize your laminating output you can run multiple items at the same time. However, you need to be very careful not to overlap items.

7. Stop the laminator once all of the laminated items completely exit the rear of the machine.

8. Your laminator most likely has a film cutter on the back of the machine. In order to use the cutter you can simply depress the cutters handle while sliding the cutter across the film. The little razor blade will cut the laminating film off the back of the machine.

9. If you plan on using the laminator again, you can leave the power on. Otherwise, you can turn the power off. If you leave the laminator on for an extended period of time, the laminator will go into standby mode and cool down.

If you follow these simple steps you will find that laminating is easier than ever. Try it for yourself and discover just how quickly you can laminate your documents, posters, projects, and graphic aids.