Scotch Laminator 9'' 3m Model Tl 901 (PPPP)

My boss had a large number of items he wanted laminated (around 70 pieces). Rather than bringing them to someplace like Staples, he purchased the Scotch TL901 Thermal Laminator so I could laminate everything right in the office.

The Scotch TL901 Thermal Laminator is a compact, desktop laminator capable of laminating paper and card stock weight items up to 8x11” using specified laminating pouches. The product details describe the size as 6.8 x 15.5 x 3.8 inches. I was easily able to find a spot for the laminator on my cabinet that holds some of my other needed office items like the printer and hole punch.

Set up
Setting up the laminator was incredibly simple. It came out of the box all in one piece except for the tray which gets placed at the back of the machine in order to feed the paper into the laminator. Just find a place to plug it in and it is ready for use.

Using the Scotch TL901 Thermal Laminator
Using the Scotch TL901Thermal Laminator is incredibly easy. Simply flip the power button located in the bottom right corner of the machine. A red light will go on indicating that it on. Next to the power light is the ready light, which will turn green when it is hot enough for use. The laminator takes about 8 minutes to heat. The only other step is to select the correct size thickness of the piece to be laminated. There is a button just left of the power button that will allow you to choose 3mil or 5 mil. Regular pieces of paper should be 3mil. If you are laminating other things such as a photograph or other heavier card stock pieces of paper then choose 5mil.

While the laminator is warming up, this is a good time to prepare the pieces you plan to laminate. Two laminating pouches come with the laminator. For more pouches, you will need to buy them separately. Of course, Scotch makes laminating pouches. The pouches are open on one side, and sealed along the bottom. The paper to be laminated should be placed in the middle of the pouch so that it is equally sealed on all sides.

When the ready indicator light goes on, the pouch can be inserted. Insert the pouch by the closed end into the laminator, and the laminator will grab the pouch and then feed the pouch in. It takes about 30 seconds for the pouch to come out completely laminated. In case of a jam, there is a release button.

The top of the laminator gets hot, so take caution during use.


My Experience with the Scotch TL901 Thermal Laminator
From set up to use, the Scotch TL901Thermal Laminator has been very easy to use and I have not experienced one problem with it. I have laminated about 70 pieces of card stock weight paper and I have not needed to use the release button. Laminating all of the pieces couldn’t have been easier. The feeder grabs the pouchs and pulls them right in. None of the pieces of paper I had to laminate had straight edges. They were in varying shapes including arrows. There hasn’t been one piece that came out wrong or with an air bubble. Others in the officer were excited over the results of our new little office machine and wanted to laminate more things. They too couldn’t get over how quick and easy it is to use the laminator.

My boss told me that he purchased the Scotch TL901Thermal Laminator for around $20. For the amount of pieces we had to laminate, it made perfect sense to get our own laminator. I also love how small and compact it is. If you need to laminate pieces of paper sizes 8 ½ x 11 or smaller at home, then the Scotch TL901Thermal Laminator is just the right laminator.

Recommend this product? Yes