Fellowes M5 -95 Laminator with Pouch Starter Kit

I've been using "self laminating" sheets for many projects over the years and decided that buying a laminator would be more economical in the long run. After some research I decided on this one because the reviews were good, the price was right and it came with 10 pouches to start. I am so thrilled with this laminator! I keep looking for things I can laminate just because I want to use it! It heats up quickly, and has an auto shut off (which I appreciate). I even tried off-brand pouches and they still work great. I am very happy with this purchase.

Take your laminator out of its packaging, find a good size flat work surface and plug in the unit. The laminator will take about 5 minutes to warm up and it will start smelling funny the first few times you use it. While the laminator is warming up you can try to figure out how to open the laminator sheets (pouches as they call them). I had a hard time trying to separate the sheets in order to place something in between them. Once you figure out the first one, the rest are easy. Sometimes when feeding the sheets into the laminator it doesn't want to take, other times it works instantly. It takes about a minute or less to laminate an 8-1/2x11 sheet and the results are rather impressive. Smooth, no bubbles and the 3mil sheets are surprisingly thick. If you have something is smaller than the 8-1/2 x 11” laminator sheet you'll need to get creative otherwise you'll be wasting the sheets. I placed several small items onto the sheet then carefully fed it through. Another way is to use double sided tape and arrange your items onto an 8-1/2x11” sheet of paper, place that paper into the sheet/pouch and laminate it. When it's done you can then cut the items into their smaller sizes. CAUTION; read and follow the instructions which are very easy. Make sure you place the sealed edge of the sheet/pouch, into the laminator first. Key work here is “sealed”. I cut my sheet in half thinking I can use the cut portion later on something small. Tried it…thought I broke the machine! It went into the feeder perfect but within a few seconds stopped feeding. I tried the release button but that didn't release the ½ sheet. I tugged and pulled but still couldn't get my sheet out of the machine. Ah oh, better turn the machine off because I know the laminator is melting the sheet inside the machine and its jammed! I tried pulling the sheet again, still couldn't get it out, thinking I've ruined my new laminator. I waited about 15 seconds after shutting the machine off, pressed the release button and was able to pull out a cooled down wrinkled mess of plastic lamination. Follow instructions, don't feed in an edge that isn't sealed it won't work! Use the correct size lamination sheets/pouches or get a bit creative with your placement of items onto the sheet. The packaging says its “Jam Free” but I managed to jam it within minutes of owning it because I didn't follow instructions. I would buy this item, I think it does a great job for home use. I've used it, I've jammed it and it still works. It does a great job on the sheets I laminated and it was actually fun to use. For home or occasional use at you can't beat it for the cost or its quality.

I have always wanted a laminator and welcomed the chance to try this one . It is able to laminate anything up to 8 inches wide. The only other size limitations would be the sizes of the lamination sheets. It heats up quickly . I just plugged it in and did some other household chores and when I came back it was ready to go . I had 3 small documents to laminate. I was able to put them all in the letter size lamination sheets provided with the unit. It was easy to feed in the documents . When they were done I just cut them apart with sissors . With its compact size it does not take up a great deal of space ! I can not find anything I do not like about this laminator for personal use.

The Fellows M5-95 Laminator is Awesome I got this for my grandchildren to use when they are here to laminate some of their very special artworks. They love it and were very happy show mommy and daddy what they made. I love it when they are so happy. Thank you Walmart and Fellowes for putting a smiles on my grandchildrens faces. I will definitely get another one of these if this one ever breaks down. I was very impressed with the quality and smoothness of this machine. My laminated pictures were perfect, no bubbles, creases or mess ups. We did a bunch and they all turned out gorgeous. Below see the pros and cons of this awesome little machine. Pros Perfect in all ways for entry level and above laminators. Easy to operate right out of the box Compact size and sleek appearance. Plug it in, let it warm up for 4 minutes. Line up your project in the pouch and send it through seamed end in first, let it cool and its ready to go. Done beautifully. Great to use with kids if your helping them to save their special artwork. Great for documents and pictures you need to preserve. Has a release button to push if the machine jams. Has guides to line up your document or artwork Comes with a pack of 10 laminating pouches. Large Very quiet machine. Cons This is one of the smaller units, and will NOT laminate anything larger than 9" Does get hot and produces a hot laminated product so protect children and yourself when using this machine. I did receive this product free to do a review. All the words and opinions on this machine are my own and I do mean everything I wrote. See pictures of beginning and end results for this machine.

The Fellowes M5/95 Personal Laminator is conveniently sized, light weight and compact. It is 14 inches long, 6 ¼ inches deep and 2 5/8 inches high and weighs only three pounds. It operates on 120v AC uses 300 Watts and comes with a five foot long cord. The unit has only two indicator lights one red to indicate the power is on and the second a green LED that lights up when the unit is ready for use. Warm up time is approximately four minutes. The laminator has a release lever located on the back side of the the machine. This is handy in the event of a jam or for realignment of your document or picture. The laminator auto feeds your documents. You have a choice of using the arrows for 8.5 inch wide or picture size laminations. You simply feed your document using the arrows as guides and the machine does the rest. The one limitation of the laminator is the maximum thickness of the laminating capacity which is 0.02 inches or 0.4 mm. Laminating is a heat set process and therefor after finishing your laminating job the unit will stay warm to the touch for up to 15 minutes. Best to not place anything on top of your unit for safety sake. The quality of the lamination is very acceptable and the machine works without issue. Laminating pouches of various sizes are readily available at Walmart. This laminator was not designed for heavy duty commercial use but as a portable personal laminator for that occasional laminating job. I would highly recommend it to anyone in the market for a compact well-made personal laminator. Fellowes is an established and respected manufacturer with a 1-800 hot line if you have other questions or concerns.