What if I told you it was actually possible to do no more laminating?!

Okay, I’m a teacher, so naturally I get a little thrill over freshly printed pages glossed over with a warm laminating sheet.  (I even wrote previous posts about my laminator love HERE and HERE).  There’s just something so type-A-wonderful about it. And, while I sometimes find great peace and relaxation in the whole process of print, laminate, cut, repeat, I also kinda get a little annoyed with it.  It’s a smidge time-consuming and those little lamination shreds are everywhere afterward.  Usually clinging to my pajamas. #Ialwayslaminateafterkidsgotobed #andIrecruitmyhusband

So, how about we just eliminate one of those steps completely?

Like, the laminate step.

Before you say What?! How is that possible?  How can I maintain durability and extend the life of the center pieces that I love so dearly and invest SO MUCH TIME in?!

Well, it’s really not that earth-shattering.  Maybe you already do this and I’m the last one on the time-saving-no-laminating train.

My solution?

CARDSTOCK.

Print. On. Cardstock.

That’s it!

I’ve been doing this with our science units, and the I’m so impressed with how sturdy the cardstock is and how vividly the colors print on each page!

 Good news: the ends don’t turn up after cutting either! The shelf life on my laminated centers was probably about 2-3 years before something was missing, torn, or just needed to be retired for one reason or another, and then I’d have to reprint, relaminate and recut something new. I’d imagine that printing centers on cardstock would result in a very similar shelf life.

If you’re a home-laminator (as I once was), printing directly on cardstock is not only more time efficient, but actually WAY cheaper than laminating sleeves. My quick little cost analysis shows a savings of about 10 cents per page.

Cardstock = 2 cents/page

Laminating Sleeve = 12 cents/sheet

I’m no math genius, but I’d say for the time and cost savings, it’s at least worth trying!

OH!  Aaaaaand, if you don’t want to print in color, you can print on colored cardstrock!  Woohoo! (And, still cheaper – about 6 cents/page)

If you’re interested, you can click the affiliate link below to see the exact cardstock I use!

What do you think?  Do you do this already or are willing to give it a try?  Or, do you just prefer laminating?

Happy Tuesday, from one Cardstock Convert to another! Maybe?!