In our part of the world, school starts this Wednesday.  I know, right?  Seems early, but there’s a trade-off for starting while summer is still going strong by letting them get out of school at the end of May – unless we have snow days to make up over the winter.  Princess Nagger is hoping she gets snow days this year, since Mother Nature was stingy and didn’t give us any snow to warrant a day off from school last year.

With the start of school, the barrage of papers and paperwork also begins.  I don’t know about you, but I have trouble keeping all those stacks of paper organized, and if there are any important documents that need to be referred to throughout the school year (like the school calendar denoting inservice days, etc.) if I stick it on the fridge it ends up bedraggled before the first quarter is done.  If only I had a laminator…

Thanks to Fellowes, I now do!  The Fellowes Saturn2 95 Desktop Laminator is nice and compact – but don’t let its size fool you, it really does the job well.  Whenever I wanted to preserve something with laminate, I’d buy those sticky cold laminating sheets – you know which ones I’m talking about?  Talk about a pain in the you-know-what trying to make sure the paper you’re trying to preserve doesn’t get mangled if you don’t get it in between the sheets just right.

And don’t get me started on the infernal air bubbles – since I’m a perfectionist, I always had to spend way too much time and effort trying to make sure every last air bubble is gone.  Ahem. 

That’s why I’ve always wanted to get a heat laminator, but never knew which one would really work for me, since there are so many different types and different levels of efficiency – which compute to different levels of money I’d have to part with.  I actually did pick up an el-cheapo one once, but it didn’t last very long.  And it didn’t do a very good job.  So I’ve been gun-shy to buy another.  If you’ve ever been in that predicament, well, here you go.

Fellowes Saturn2 95 Laminator Features:

  • HeatGuard™ Technology: Double-walled insulation keeps heat inside so laminator is comfortable to touch, making it safe for homes with children
  • Advanced Temperature Control: Hot and cold laminating capabilities ensure consistent, smooth results every time
  • Jam Release Lever: Permits easy removal or re-centering of stalled pouches.

To put this laminator to the test, we decided we’d laminate the cat picture a friend of Princess Nagger’s drew for her.  We wish we could have laminated it before the washing machine in the upstairs bathroom decided that the kitchen below needed a good washing, because it got color transfer from another piece of art that was in the same paper pile as the picture:

 Poor kitty needs some TLC.  So I plugged in the laminator and selected ‘3 mil’, since that’s the weight of the laminating sheets:

Yes, I opted to do my laminating from the sturdy surface of my kitchen floor.  That way I could hide behind the child gate and not get interrupted by busy bodies.  See that little snowflake icon on one of the buttons?  This laminator can also do cold lamination – so the possibilities are endless. I waited for the blinking light to stay on steadily, indicating it was ready for lift-off:

Once it was ready, I fed the kitty to my new toy:

I trimmed off the edges and presto – kitty is now protected with his very own force-field:

I also decided I need to protect the one recipe card I have safely tucked in my spice cupboard – the special Swenson Chocolate recipe I wrote down after losing it twice before.  The card was looking a bit ratty, so I decided I better protect it from future spillage or destruction:

There.  Now the recipe is safe from future harm – and will be preserved for when I pass it down to my daughter.  Pretty nifty, no?

Of course now I had the fever, and wanted to laminate something else just for fun – so I thought I’d try laminating the sheet of Princess Nagger’s wallet sized school pictures I forgot to give away:

And there you go.  Now her pictures won’t get worn and ratty being in wallets, and the information I wrote on the back with a pen (that tends to smear) will also be preserved.  This cool little laminator will get a great workout on Wednesday afternoon when Princess Nagger brings her first barrage of paperwork home from her first day of school.

There are so many uses for a laminator and this one passed my test with flying colors.  No jamming, no crinkling up the thing I’m trying to laminate and it’s safe to use around the kids because it has HeatGuard™ Technology.

I recommend that you Buy It: The Fellowes Saturn2 95 is available at Staples.com for $159.99.  If you hurry, until August 25th friends of Stacy Uncorked (thanks to Mom Central) can use exclusive coupon code 87298 to receive $30 off the regular price bringing it down to $129.99 which is well worth it.  (While supplies last; maximum two machines per person)

Do you use a laminator either at home or somewhere else?

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I wrote this review while participating in a blog tour by Mom Central Consulting on behalf of Fellowes and received a product sample to facilitate my review.  All opinions are mine and not influenced by outside sources. See my Disclosure Policy here.

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