Lamination

A laminate is a layered object or material assembled using heat, pressure, welding, or adhesives.

Laminated fabric are widely used in different fields of human activity, including medical and military.

[2]: 148  Woven fabrics (organic and inorganic based) are usually laminated by different chemical polymers to give them useful properties like chemical resistance, dust, grease, photoluminescence (glowing and other light-effects e.g. in high-visibility clothing), tear strength, stiffness, thickness, and being wind proof .

According to a 2002 source, the nonwovens fabric industry was the biggest single consumer of different polymer binding resins.

[2]: 32  Thermoplastics and thermosetting plastics (e.g. formaldehyde polymers) are equally used in laminating and coating textile industry.

In automotive industry for example the PVC/acrylonitrilebutadiene-styrene (ABS) mixtures were often applied for interiors by laminating onto a polyurethane foam to give a soft-touch properties.

Vehicle windshields are commonly made as composites created by laminating a tough plastic film between two layers of glass.

Laminating paper products, such as photographs, can prevent them from becoming creased, faded, water damaged, wrinkled, stained, smudged, abraded, or marked by grease or fingerprints.

Sheets of vinyl impregnated with ferro-magnetic material can allow portable printed images to bond to magnets, such as for a custom bulletin board or a visual presentation.

Specially surfaced plastic sheets can be laminated over a printed image to allow them to be safely written upon, such as with dry erase markers or chalk.

Paper is normally laminated on particle or fiberboards giving a good-looking and resistant surface for use as furniture, decoration panels and flooring.

For example, juiceboxes are fabricated from liquid packaging board which is usually six layers of paper, polyethylene, and aluminum foil.

Cheaper particle boards may have only a lining of laminating kraft to give surface washability and resistance to wear.

The decor paper can also be processed under heat and low/high pressure to create a melamine laminated sheet, that has several applications.

The pouch containing the print, laminate, and substrate is passed through a set of heated rollers under pressure, ensuring that all adhesive layers bond to one another.

This helps prevent the hot glue, some of which leaks from the sides of the pouches during the process, from gumming up the rollers.

Cold roll laminators use a plastic film which is coated with an adhesive and glossy backing which does not adhere to the glue.

When the glossy backing is removed, the adhesive is exposed, which then sticks directly onto the item which needs to be laminated.

This method, apart from having the obvious benefit of not requiring expensive equipment, is also suitable for those items which would be damaged by heat.

A large percentage of cold laminate for use in the print industry is PVC, although a wide range of other materials are available.

Cold laminating processes are also used outside of the print industry, for example, coating sheet glass or stainless steel with protective films.

Cold roll laminators are also used for laying down adhesive films in the sign-making industry, for example mounting a large print onto a board.

A practiced operator can apply a large adhesive sheet in a fraction of the time it takes to do so by hand.