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Angie Mc Board Moderator
Joined: Jan 31 2005 Location: Arizona
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Posted: Oct 02 2009 at 9:57pm | IP Logged
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I have no time to research laminating machines and want to purchase one ASAP. Any words of wisdom? Brands? Features to look for? Also...
Tell me how you put this machine to good use!
Thanks and...
Love,
__________________ Angie Mc
Maimeo to Henry! Dave's wife, mom to Mrs. Devin+Michael Pope, Aiden 20,Ian 17,John Paul 11,Catherine (heaven 6/07)
About Me
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Mackfam Board Moderator
Non Nobis
Joined: April 24 2006 Location: Alabama
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Posted: Oct 02 2009 at 10:10pm | IP Logged
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I'll keep it brief...
Michael's 40% off coupon...
Xyron 900 laminating machine
You'll be laminating everything paper that comes in your house!
You can go cheaper, but I much prefer this one - it's a no heat laminator and laminates right up to the edge unlike some I've tried that really don't laminate up to the edge so you have to leave a 1/4 inch border of laminate around the edge of something. Because it's no heat it means you can just set it on your table, run the holy card/flash card/art print/map/whatever through anytime you want and then just park it back in its place on your shelf.
I LOVE LAMINATING! In fact...if I had to confess an obsession...it would be laminating!
__________________ Jen Mackintosh
Wife to Rob, mom to dd 19, ds 16, ds 11, dd 8, and dd 3
Wildflowers and Marbles
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Sarah M Forum All-Star
Joined: Jan 06 2008 Location: Washington
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Posted: Oct 02 2009 at 11:50pm | IP Logged
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I second Jen's recommendation for the Xyron 900. Love, love, love it.
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Paula in MN Forum All-Star
Joined: Nov 25 2006 Location: Minnesota
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Posted: Oct 03 2009 at 7:36am | IP Logged
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How much are refills and how long do they last?
__________________ Paula
A Catholic Harvest
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mom3aut1not Forum All-Star
Joined: May 21 2005
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Posted: Oct 03 2009 at 8:45am | IP Logged
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I recently got a Scotch laminator for about $25. I love it and prefer it to Xyron because I use a lot of velcro. (Hey, velcro is the best friend of a mom of an autistic child...) Velcro doesn't like to stick to Xyron's sheets. There is a way to deal with that, but I'd prefer not to.
In Christ,
__________________ Deborah
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sunshinyliving Forum Newbie
Joined: Dec 14 2008
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Posted: Oct 03 2009 at 8:58am | IP Logged
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I like the Scotch laminator too. I got mine at Sam's for $25, although I noticed last week that they are now $19. It came with 25 sheets. (I usually purchase refills at Walmart.) I haven't noticed a problem with it not laminating around the edges. It is a heat laminator, but it heats up and cools down quickly. It is small and light, easy to get out and put away.
There are so many expensive laminators out there that I'm convinced they must have some really neat and useful features. However, not knowing what they are I don't miss them, and this cheapo one to meets my homeschooling needs (we even laminate leaves with it).
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Mackfam Board Moderator
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Posted: Oct 03 2009 at 9:21am | IP Logged
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These are very good points and I thought of them last night after I gushed about the Xyron...
Some things to consider...
Duck brand or Scotch brand
** Inexpensive - the Duck brand laminator is about $30 at Walmart
** Heavier/stiffer laminate
** Tape and velcro will stick to the back of this laminate
** You'll have to plug it in every time you use it and give it time to warm up
** Takes longer to laminate - the page moves through relatively slowly, so if you're doing a lot of laminating it could take some time.
Xyron brand
** No heat laminating - so if you want to laminate, you just put the paper in the machine, turn the crank, and laminate in about 10 seconds.
** Laminates up to the edge of a paper - in other words the laminate sticks to the edge of the paper so you can trim flush with the edge of the paper or material
** You can laminate a very long amount of something...like a timeline...in one consecutive laminate. You're not limited by length as the laminate for this is a 50 foot roll.
** Does not hold tape or velcro very well. I've used double sided tape, but I had to convince it that it wanted to stay. Consider this if you want to velcro laminated chore charts and calendar pages around the house.
** Is a lighter weight laminate than the Duck or Scotch brand laminate, but after a few...ahem... years of laminating everything with both brands...the Xyron seems to stick to the material better over time. I laminated a set of Jesse tree symbols using my *DUCK* and they're all separating and they're my favorite set of symbols.
sunshinyliving does bring up another useful feature of the laminator...I too laminate nature treasures with it!
Ok...I feel better now that I left you with some pros and cons of both. They're both useful laminators. My preference is the no-heat Xyron, but if this is a tight fit in ye olde budget, I'd buy an inexpensive one from Walmart and GET TO LAMINATING!!!!! and then save one day for the Xyron...and use both!
Happy laminating everyone! May we all find our holy cards, saints biographies, recipes, maple leaves, instruction booklets, art prints, old calendar images, shredded book jackets, latin flash cards, and homemade journal covers LAMINATED IN A HIGH QUALITY SHINY SHEEN OF PLASTIC HAPPINESS!
__________________ Jen Mackintosh
Wife to Rob, mom to dd 19, ds 16, ds 11, dd 8, and dd 3
Wildflowers and Marbles
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Mackfam Board Moderator
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Posted: Oct 03 2009 at 9:29am | IP Logged
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From my **FAVORITES**
ISO printables on a white background - actually turns into a discussion on laminating heat vs. no heat - very helpful!
and...a discussion on laminators would not be complete without the 4 PAGE discussion...
laminators?
__________________ Jen Mackintosh
Wife to Rob, mom to dd 19, ds 16, ds 11, dd 8, and dd 3
Wildflowers and Marbles
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Angie Mc Board Moderator
Joined: Jan 31 2005 Location: Arizona
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Posted: Oct 03 2009 at 11:02am | IP Logged
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I have my 40% off coupon for Michaels in my hot little hand and can't wait to get my Xyron laminating machine today! Thanks so much for your help .
Laminating Queens, if you were a newbie Laminating Princess, what would you laminate first? Or...if you *had* to laminate something today, what would it be? Or...what was the last thing you laminated?
I'm going to laminate spelling word lists...then maybe the cloud cards...then...
Love,
__________________ Angie Mc
Maimeo to Henry! Dave's wife, mom to Mrs. Devin+Michael Pope, Aiden 20,Ian 17,John Paul 11,Catherine (heaven 6/07)
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Mackfam Board Moderator
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Posted: Oct 03 2009 at 11:10am | IP Logged
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...go find your favorite picture book...the hardcover one with the ripped dust jacket...and run it through there...and then come back here with a big on your face and tell us all about it.
...maybe you'd like to laminate a special prayer or holy card for the month of October to include in your family prayer area.
...and for goodness sake...get outside and collect some leaves for laminating for your nature books!
__________________ Jen Mackintosh
Wife to Rob, mom to dd 19, ds 16, ds 11, dd 8, and dd 3
Wildflowers and Marbles
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SuzanneG Forum Moderator
Joined: June 17 2006 Location: Idaho
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Posted: Oct 03 2009 at 4:22pm | IP Logged
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Angie Mc wrote:
Laminating Queens, if you were a newbie Laminating Princess, what would you laminate first? |
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** A couple holy cards for the month of October.
** Your favorite recent picture of your family with everyone's signatures on the back for use as a bookmark!
Angie Mc wrote:
Or...what was the last thing you laminated? |
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Michelangelo's "Holy Family w/St. John the Baptist" with a hole punched at the top with a string attached to hang around the doorknob.
__________________ Suzanne in ID
Wife to Pete
Mom of 7 (Girls - 14, 12, 11, 9, 7 and Boys - 4, 1)
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SuzanneG Forum Moderator
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Posted: Oct 03 2009 at 4:36pm | IP Logged
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You will never again be without a pretty, durable bookmark, Angie!!! Here's one we made for our God-daughter's First Communion:
__________________ Suzanne in ID
Wife to Pete
Mom of 7 (Girls - 14, 12, 11, 9, 7 and Boys - 4, 1)
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Booksnbabes Forum All-Star
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Posted: Oct 03 2009 at 9:45pm | IP Logged
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You ladies are such a bad influence! I now have a Xyron 900 heading my way from Dick Blick...I never knew how much I "needed" one! Cannot wait to start playing with it!
__________________ Wife to wonderful DH, mom to SIX beautiful gifts from God!
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Jenn Sal Forum All-Star
Joined: June 23 2005 Location: Texas
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Posted: Oct 05 2009 at 6:51am | IP Logged
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Just saw this....I have the Xyron and love it! The only downfalls are that the cartridges are expensive and like Jennife said above, tape won't stick. But those things weren't enough to take away my joy, because I LOVE laminating!!!!
The last project was some of the art study pictures. My next project is fall leaves to hang in our school room windows.
__________________ Jennifer, Texas
Wife to Mark, Mom to Cora 13,Kade 10, Sarah in Heaven 12/05, Colette 7, Corin 5, & Kieran 2
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PDyer Forum All-Star
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Posted: Oct 05 2009 at 9:44am | IP Logged
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Must.laminate.something!
__________________ Patty
Mom of ds (7/96) and dd (9/01) and two angels (8/95 and 6/08)
Life at Home
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Paula in MN Forum All-Star
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Posted: Oct 05 2009 at 10:27am | IP Logged
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I'm trying so hard NOT to spend any money, and now I'm feeling an incredible urge to run to Michael's and buy a laminater and something for labels....
__________________ Paula
A Catholic Harvest
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Paula in MN Forum All-Star
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Posted: Oct 05 2009 at 10:45am | IP Logged
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Well, I just bought the Xyron 900. I bought it online through Jo-Ann fabrics, with a 50% off coupon good until tomorrow -- the code is TTF281A is anyone is interested. With shipping and tax my total was 74.76.
__________________ Paula
A Catholic Harvest
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rose gardens Forum Pro
Joined: Feb 23 2006 Location: Minnesota
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Posted: Oct 05 2009 at 6:15pm | IP Logged
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For those of you who want to laminate only a few items, (or who don't want a machine that requires storage space.) Scotch makes Self-Sealing Laminating Pouches. They come in a couple sizes, including 8x10. One draw-back is they can't be cut or one side of the plastic falls off, but otherwise they're easy to use and don't take any more storage area than paper. I found them at Wal-mart last year. I don't remember the price, but it seemed reasonable and they serve my purposes.
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