A beautifully printed catalogue can lose its shine long before it reaches the reader, whether that’s a scuffed corner, a layer of dust or a damp delivery. A clean, tight wrap is one of the simplest ways to stop that happening and L sealer machines are a popular way for print and paper businesses to do it.
Our L sealing machines are built to order and come in semi or fully automatic versions and you can buy them, rent them or take them on long-term loan. We work with the paper and print sector and an L sealer suits plenty of its work, from books and catalogues to boxed stationery. We’ll also help you choose with confidence by showing where another machine in our range might suit you better. It all starts with a simple four-step process, so let’s see how an L sealer works.
What Is an L Sealer Machine?
An L sealer wraps a product in shrink film, which is a plastic film that tightens when it’s heated and seals it with an L-shaped bar. Here’s how that works, step by step:
- You place the product in the film.
- The L-shaped bar trims and seals the sides and front in one movement.
- The pack passes through a heat tunnel, a heated chamber that shrinks the film tight.
- You’re left with a neatly enclosed package.
That simple sequence is why L sealing machinery is so common in packing rooms. The basics are quick to pick up and what an L sealer machine is and how it works is easy to follow if you’d like the full picture. From here, we’ll focus on what matters for printed and paper products.
Where Are L Sealer Machines Used in Print and Paper Packaging?
Books and catalogues are the easiest place to picture an L sealer. A shrink wrap machine for books gives retail copies a neat, tight finish for display and the same wrap can hold stacks together for bulk shipping. Either way, shrink wrapping printed materials protects them on the journey to the reader and a tight wrap helps a glossy cover arrive looking crisp.
Stationery and office supplies, such as notebooks and paper reams, need a tidy wrap too and so does e-commerce packaging. An L sealer can suit the medium to larger packs among these, though the right machine always depends on your product and volume. Magazines and newspapers, sold as single copies or in bundles for subscriptions or distribution, are mainly a question of volume and we’ll come back to them shortly.
How Do You Shrink Wrap a Book or Catalogue?
Wrapping a single book or a small stack of catalogues is simpler than it sounds. The operator loads the product into the film and the sealing frame comes down to seal it. The tunnel then finishes the job by shrinking the film snug. Exact settings depend on the product and the machine, so we’re happy to talk them through before you buy.
The Titan shrink wrapper combines an L sealer and a tunnel in one unit, so the whole job happens in one place. It sits on wheels and plugs in, which can make it a simple option for batch print runs. Once you know how the process works, it’s much easier to compare machines and how shrink wrapping machines work is a good place to start.
What Are the Benefits of Using an L Sealer for Printed Materials?
The main L sealer benefits for print and paper come down to protection and presentation. Here’s how each one can show up with printed products:
Protection: a wrap helps keep dust, moisture and damage away from a glossy catalogue.
A clean finish: a tight, polished wrap presents well on a shelf or in a mailing.
Flexibility: one machine can handle several product types, such as a stack of books and a boxed stationery set.
Less manual work: automated sealing can speed up production and cut down on manual labour on repeat jobs.
Built to last: our machines are made to last, which we see as long-term value.
None of these depends on a particular print job, so the benefits of shrink wrapping books carry across to catalogues and stationery too. How much each one matters will vary with your products, which is why size is the next thing to check.
What Size L Sealer Do You Need for Print and Paper Products?
Most print and paper products sit at the smaller end of the range. We wrap packs from the size of a standard envelope upwards, so a single book, a catalogue or a boxed stationery set is comfortably covered. Each machine is built to order, so a bespoke L sealer can be matched to your biggest products without being oversized for the smaller ones. The range runs up to large boxed packs, so there’s room to grow if your product mix changes.
If you’re asking what size L sealer do I need, start with your largest and smallest products. Then think about whether you wrap singles or stacks and how many packs a minute you’d like to get through. Those answers make it much quicker to point you towards the right machine and they show whether an L sealer is the best fit.
Do You Need a Heat Tunnel With an L Sealer?
Most set-ups use both, as the two do different jobs. The sealer seals the film around your product and the tunnel shrinks it tight. Without the tunnel the film would stay loose, which is why the two are usually bought and run together.
If you’d like to weigh them up as separate pieces of equipment, this comparison of L-bar sealers vs heat tunnels is a useful read. Tunnel temperatures and settings depend on the film and the product, so we’d always talk those through with you. It’s also worth checking that your product and its packaging can cope with the heat
Are L Sealers Fast Enough for High Volume Print Lines?
It depends on your volumes and the honest answer is that L sealers suit smaller or changing print runs best. They’re built to cope with several pack sizes on one machine, which makes them a comfortable match for batch work where the product changes from job to job, such as a run of catalogues one day and boxed stationery the next.
To give you a sense of pace, the Titan can wrap up to 20 items a minute. That’s a useful guide for planning a batch run and it helps you picture how long a job of a few hundred packs might take.
Very high-volume lines are a different story. If you’re wrapping individual magazines or newspapers, you’d want to look at an automatic shrink wrapper, which can wrap up to 30 items a minute. The simplest way to decide is to count how many packs you need to get through each day and if your volumes are likely to grow, mention that when you talk to us. If you’re not sure which side of the line you fall, tell us roughly how many packs you’d like to wrap and we’ll say.
When Should You Choose a Different Machine?
Sometimes another machine in our range is the better match for your products. Here’s how the main alternatives compare with an L sealer:
Sleeve sealer: semi-automatic bundling, with or without a cardboard tray, for small to medium products, while L sealers wrap medium to large product packs.
Chamber machine: compact and wheeled, wrapping eight items a minute and suited to low to medium runs and small spaces.
Automatic shrink wrapper: up to 30 items a minute for higher volumes.
Pack size is usually the first thing to settle when comparing an L sealer with a sleeve sealer. Run length and floor space matter more against a chamber machine. You can see the full range of machines on our shrink wrap machines page and talking through your products with us is the quickest way to see which one suits you.
Should You Buy, Hire or Buy a Used L Sealer?
Print and paper work can be seasonal or project based, so you don’t have to commit to a new machine. We offer machines for purchase and long-term loan and both L sealers and heavy duty L sealers are available on short-term hire, which helps with seasonal peaks. L sealer hire can also be a sensible way to try the process before making a bigger decision.
A used L sealer from our range of used shrink wrapping machines suits small to medium volumes. If you’d rather not run a machine at all, our contract wrapping service handles anything from one item to 100,000. Whichever route you take, we’ll help you weigh up what fits your workload.
What Should Print and Paper Businesses Know About Film, Safety and Compliance?
Safe operation starts with good upkeep. The HSE’s PUWER guidance on using work equipment safely covers how equipment is inspected and maintained and how people are trained to use it. It’s relevant to any wrapping machine. Anyone loading and sealing packs should know how the machine works and spotting the warning signs a shrink wrap machine needs a service early helps keep it running smoothly.
Shrink film is plastic and some print customers will have questions about it. Businesses that place goods into packaging may also want to check whether the packaging extended producer responsibility (EPR) rules apply to them. A quick read of the GOV.UK guidance on who is affected will show whether it’s relevant to you.
An L sealer gives printed and paper products a tidy, protective finish at the sizes most print and paper businesses work with. The right choice comes down to your pack sizes, your run lengths and whether you’d like to own the machine and very high-volume lines are the one area where a faster system makes more sense. Our L sealing machines are built around your products, so you end up with a machine that fits your work.
Ready to find the right machine for your print and paper products? Tell us about your products and volumes through our contact page and we’ll help you find the right one, whether you’d like to buy, hire or take it on long-term loan.
