The Best Laminating Sheets

A laminator can take a simple piece of paper and turn it into something durable. When you laminate something, you enclose it in a plastic laminator sheet and use a special machine to apply heat and pressure. This seals and protects your laminated object. With that done, you won't have to worry about ripping it or spilling something on it and making it illegible. It's the perfect way to keep your important documents and IDs clean and safe. Additionally, the plastic coating of the laminator also makes it safer for curious young hands to handle documents. You can create longer-lasting chore charts, learning materials, and more. With so many possibilities, everyone should have some laminating sheets on hand. Below, you'll find a few of our favorites. Pick up a pack and you'll always be ready to laminate when the need arises.

AmazonBasics Thermal Laminating Sheets

Preserve Your Photos

You can safely laminate photo paper in these laminator sheets, along with other types of paper and documents.
Best Overall

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It’s no wonder why these laminating sheets quickly rose to the top of our list. With these, you get a great product at a price you can’t beat. You can select between a 50-, 100-, or 200-pack, so no matter how many items you have to laminate, this set will get you stocked. And since each of the sheets are crystal clear, you can easily read what’s inside. There won’t be any funky streaks or coloring to interfere with your paper.

Additionally, you’ll appreciate how easy it is to use these laminator sheets. You simply slip your document inside and insert it into your laminator. When it comes out the other end, it’ll be protected and ready to go. These sheets are 3-mil thick, too, which is the perfect thickness for casual, everyday laminating use.

Pros

  • Good price point per sheet (especially when you buy in bulk)
  • Photo-safe sheets that you can safely use to laminate your older photos or freshly printed pics
  • Compatible with most leading laminators so you can use them no matter which brand you have

Cons

  • 3-mil laminating sheets are thin enough to peel at the corners if you aren’t careful. Make sure you leave plenty of space around the edges instead of cutting things too close to help prevent this.

Avery Self-Adhesive Laminating Sheets

Eliminate Your Hesitance to Laminate

You won't need to invest in a laminator machine to protect your documents with these self-adhesive sheets.
Best Self-Adhesive

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If you want the protection of lamination without the expense of a laminating machine, you’ve got to check out these self-adhesive laminating sheets. They’ll help keep your documents preserved without using any heat. When you’re ready to give one a try, you use the grid to get your document placed correctly. You’ll want it to be straight on the lines so it looks more professional. Then, place another sheet on top, sticky side down. As you press the two sheets together with your hands, you’ll create a bond that will securely seal your document.

Once they’re done, you can use scissors to trim off the excess lamination. Then, you can use a dry erase marker on it if you want. It wipes off cleanly and easily, so you can create customized schedules, charts, and activities.

Pros

  • Self-adhesive – you don’t need to buy an expensive machine to preserve your documents and photos
  • Acid-free and archival-safe to help keep your documents safe for years to come
  • Can use dry erase marker on them and erase it easily

Cons

  • You’ll need to use two sheets for every document you want to seal, so you’ll need to keep that in mind when deciding which size box to get.
  • If you aren’t careful when pressing, you can wind up with air bubbles in your finished product. To avoid these, go nice and slow and apply even pressure from the center to the outside.

Scotch Thermal Laminating Pouches

Professional Finish

Your document inside will be crystal clear when you seal it in one of these laminating sheets.
Best Thermal

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Thermal laminating sheets require a thermal laminator to use. As you may have guessed, this is simply a machine that uses heat to seal your documents. It will get really hot, so you’ll want to be careful when using these. When they come out of the laminator, you’ll be amazed at how clear your final product is. These laminating sheets really will give you professional results that you can be proud of.

Though they’re designed specifically for the Scotch brand of laminators, you can safely use these in many other machines. Each box comes with 100 3-mil laminating sheets, and you can opt for a bulk purchase (5 boxes) if you’d like. You won’t run out of laminating sheets any time soon if you go that route. You’ll get a lot of use out of them.

Pros

  • Durable finish that isn’t cloudy or streaked when you’re done laminating
  • Large quantities available, so you can buy in bulk if you do a lot of laminating
  • Package option with a laminator available, which makes it easy to get everything you need to get started
  • Only one sealed end on each sheet, so you can easily lift it up and arrange smaller pieces easily before laminating

Cons

  • If you aren’t careful, the things you’re laminating can slide around on the sheet while you’re laminating. You’ll need to go slow and apply a lot of pressure to keep everything in place.

USI WrapSure Thermal Laminating Sheets

Maximum Protection

If you find most laminating sheets a little too thin for your preferences, give these thick ones a try.
Best Extra-Thick

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Sometimes, you need a little extra protection on your documents. If 3-mil isn’t enough for your needs, check this pack out. You can select between four different thicknesses: 3-, 5-, 7- and 10-mil. With these options, you won’t have to worry at all about your documents getting damaged.

Another great aspect of these laminating sheets is their size. They’re not only thick, but they’re also large. Each one is legal-sized (9″ x 14.5″), giving you more room to work with than its traditional counterparts. These sheets are compatible with multiple laminators, too, so pick up a pack today and really protect your important paperwork.

Pros

  • Rounded corners on each sheet for safety
  • 4 different thickness available, so you can pick the level of protection that you need
  • Clear glossy finish that looks nice and keeps your document easy to read

Cons

  • Since the thicker ones are more expensive per sheet, the price can quickly add up. You may want to buy some thinner ones for your everyday use and hang onto the thick ones for your most important laminating.

3M Laminating Pouch Kit

All Different Sizes

If you've got several different items to laminate, this variety pack is a great value.
Best Variety

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Your documents aren’t always the exact same size, and neither are your pictures. To help you laminate objects of different sizes without wasting any of your laminating sheets, you need this variety kit. It comes with six different varieties of laminating pouches, so you will always have the size you need on hand. You’ll be able to laminate full sheets of paper, name tags, business cards, and more.

This set of laminating pouches is perfect for beginning laminators. It allows you to try out different sizes without buying a box of 100 that may end up going to waste. Each of the six packs comes with 2o laminating sheets, which is a great amount to help you get used to it. Then, if you decide you need more of a particular size, you can reorder just that one.

Pros

  • Less wasteful than its comptetitors. If you’re laminating something small you can use a small sheet instead of using a whole one and cutting off and throwing away all of the scraps
  • Six sizes of laminating sheets so you can laminate large and small documents with ease
  • Great price point to let you try different sizes without investing in a whole box of each

Cons

  • You may end up with sizes you don’t use.

Frequently Asked Questions

Do I need a laminator to use laminating sheets?

Most laminating sheets are designed to use with a laminator. They rely on heat and pressure to seal, and the machine provides both of those. However, there are also self-adhesive laminator sheets. If you don’t have a laminator yet, opt for those ones. That way you can still use your product without having to buy anything else.

Do I need to buy name brand laminator sheets to use in my laminator?

When you’re reading the owner’s manual of your laminator, it’ll likely recommend a particular brand of laminating sheets to use. And while you can purchase that brand to use, you don’t have to. Almost every laminator on the market is compatible with most of the laminating sheets. This means you can pick up the brand you like best or shop around for a good deal.