Laminating cache info

[+Bad_CRC]

I notice that most old travel bugs I retrieve that have old laminated info sheets with them, the lamination is completely useless, the 2 sides aren't stuck together anymore.

 

is this due to age, or bending, or water, or what?

 

 

I'm testing how waterproof a small laminated stash note is out of curiosity, hopefully it'll be good for a bit. Certainly I'd assume it's better than a ziploc, as it's rare to see one of those that doesn't have holes in it.

 

I'm guessing the larger the "edge" of the lamination is, the better it will hold?

[+webscouter.]

I wonder if the difference between a heated lamination and a cold lamination is significant?

[+Bad_CRC]

I wonder if the difference between a heated lamination and a cold lamination is significant?

 

what is cold lamination? just like tape?

[+webscouter.]

I wonder if the difference between a heated lamination and a cold lamination is significant?

 

what is cold lamination? just like tape?

 

Yes, only thicker.

[+TheAlabamaRambler]

I expect the problem is that folks trim the lamination too close to the edge of the paper.

 

Hot or cold lamination, the plastic is made to stick to plastic, not the paper. Leave a 1/8th-inch edge around the paper when you trim the plastic and it will seal just fine.

 

I just wish all TB owners would tag their bugs with a laminated mission statement so we'd have some idea whether we want to take them!

[+WRITE SHOP ROBERT]

The lamination is not perfect, but it's certainly better than nothing. I've been laminating my GameCards for years, and they do pretty well in Caches. I've seen just a couple(out of thousands) that were damaged, and those were in Caches with serious water problems. If there is the slightest hole (in the laminate or the seal) that lets the water get to the paper, then it's all downhill from there. If you want to use the laminate, just do a good job of it and there should be no problems

[+minxyy]

I expect the problem is that folks trim the lamination too close to the edge of the paper.

 

Thats the usual prob .....any thin area of laminate will flex when carried around or exposed to extremes of heat or cold and then POP open!

 

As already said better than finding a lump of papier mache in the bottom of a cache ....if the tags exhausted why not PM the owner who would be glad of your assistance in replacing the message (well I certainly would)

 

Have a fantastic Sunday

minxyy

[CoyoteRed]

You have to allow for the attachment hole as well. Otherwise it is a weak link.

[+Bad_CRC]

if the tags exhausted why not PM the owner who would be glad of your assistance in replacing the message (well I certainly would)

 

I don't generally bother to PM the owner. (I tend to have bad luck getting replies to PMs from geocaching.com, I think a lot of people use throwaway email addresses.) Maybe it's just me, but I can't imagine anyone having a problem with someone fixing a destroyed info sheet.

 

I'll just replace or relaminate the tags before I move the tb along, which is actually where this thread got started, as one I have now was in the same situation. in addition to being dirty as hell, which I also cleaned up.

 

not that my life must be boring, but I actually dreamed about this last night, and the test lamination had leaked in my dream. I assume that the real one hasn't yet.

Edited April 22, 2007 by Bad_CRC

[+BlueDeuce]

I use a self-adhesive luggage tag. It comes with the hole pre-punched and is well away from the sticky area.

 

Looking at recent pictures of a bug I release in June 2004 it seems to be holding up just fine. I would certainly hope someone would tell me if it needed to be replaced.

 

[+StarBrand]

I agree with the rambler - too many people trim the edge of the lamination too close and destroy the bond. Also personal experience with laminators tells me that most folks don't let them heat up enough or get them quite hot enough to get a good seal. Good laminator sheets that are well sealed should hold up to lts of bending and twisting and a few holes.

[+Bad_CRC]

so far, no leaks.

 

wonder how long I should leave it under water.

[+ScaredOfBees]

I have made laminated sheets more durable by using airplane model glue to melt and seal the edges. If you use the gooey stuff, lay out a line the length of the edge to be sealed and smoosh the edge into it. Make sure to get it on the whole edge. You can also use acetone or nail polish remover and paint it on, although because it's thinner it doesn't fill gaps as well.

[+Bad_CRC]

still no leaks. I don't think it's the water that does it. must be the bending, or perhaps the ones that are messed up were the cold lamination, and this is the hot stuff.

 

Maybe I'll give it another week just to be sure.

[+fehrgo]

I just retrieved a now archived cache of mine that used laminated sheets for the waypoints. The sheets were bent slightly in their containers. After 4 months, the edges of the lamination had given out and water damage was very evident.

 

These were hot laminated photo paper. I had left about 3mm on all sides. I would attribute the leakage to the flex popping the lamination off, and that 3mm was too close a trim to maintain a long term seal. This does not give me much confidence in laminating TB tags, unless the area that the hole goes through is sufficiently far from the paper part of the tag.

 

I will definitely be changing the way that I laminate these in the future.

[+egami]

still no leaks. I don't think it's the water that does it. must be the bending, or perhaps the ones that are messed up were the cold lamination, and this is the hot stuff.

 

Maybe I'll give it another week just to be sure.

 

Not sure where you live, but another thing you might consider would be testing it against extreme heat/cold and humidity. In fact, I am not so sure the humidity isn't the main issue around here outside of the previously mentioned problem of people not leaving enough around the edges. I am curious if extreme temps cause some decent lamination jobs to god bad due to contraction and expansion.

 

Good topic.

Edited April 25, 2007 by egami

[+martinell]

I can add here that I have collected TB's that did not have lamination. On two of them just being in my backpack destroyed the papers so I had to create new, laminated, ones. On another occasion I had a cache get drowned in the spring flood. All paper items were destroyed, whereas laminated were still legible and usable.

 

In my experience lamination is really a good way to go.

[+tomfuller & Quill]

I had some experience making laminated signs to be stapled to plywood and exposed to PA winter weather.

The ones that worked the best were heavy cardstock that was trimmed so that there was a minimum of 0.75 inch margin all around. I also tried running the signs through a second time (upside down). About half of the signs done this way survived 2 winters in a legible condition. Heat lamination is somewhat better than cold.

Any holes in the margin should be as far as possible from the paper. Hope this helps.

[+Miragee]

For my first TB, I took the printed information tag to the UPS Store and paid a minimal fee to have the tag laminated professionally there.

 

I don't know how it held up, and now that "Leapin' Lizzards" has gone missing -- R.I.P. -- I guess I'll never find out . . .