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Plastic sleeves are a stationery item that we tend not to think much about, but their function is so useful and they cost very little that we should all probably try and use them a little bit more.

The main purpose of plastic sleeves is to protect documents or other items from everyday dirt and dust and wear and tear. They can be used to store and protect documents as well as to present them beautifully in a business or school/college environment.

They are durable and better than paper sleeves as they protect from water and moisture damage. They come in a variety of sizes and colors and some come specially made for specific purposes.

Please click here for prices on the full range of plastic sleeves

Whilst individual plastic sleeves may only cost a few cents, it is usually worth buying in bulk to get the best value for money and the chances are you will have more need for them than you originally thought.

So if you do not already have some, check out our top picks for the different types of plastic sleeves on the market today.

If you need a bit more convincing, please read on for more reasons as to why you need plastic sleeves in your life.

Or if you just need some help choosing which option would be best for you, check out our plastic sleeve buying guide below.

Single Plastic Sleeve Sheet Protectors

Protect your important documents and organize your clutter with this box of 200 plastic sleeve sheet protectors. They are US letter size, hole punched, acid free and archival safe so are perfect for long term storage. They have wide top openings allowing you to easily slide your document into place and in fact they will take up to 10 sheets per sleeve. They are heavyweight, so more durable but not heavy as well as non glare so you can easily read your materials. Don’t go for the cheap, lightweight and non-branded sleeves as they make poor substitutes to these long lasting sheet protectors that fit in most binders.

A3 Plastic Sleeve Sheet Protectors

This pack of 10 polyester A3 sheet protectors are sized to hold larger items. They can be loaded from the top or bottom but do not worry about things slipping out because the black liner sheet holds everything in place. The polyester offers superior clarity for viewing photos or artwork that these sleeves might contain.

High Capacity Sheet Protectors

If you want to hold a number of sheets in one plastic sleeve, you will need high capacity sheet protectors. Whilst most normal sleeves can hold a few sheets, trying to stuff 50 or so in will result in bent or tatty documents. These multi page protectors will hold up to 50 sheets comfortably which is ideal if you want to store booklets or stacks of paper. This box contains 25 multi page, hole punched and acid free sleeves for frequent and long lasting protection.

Binder Envelope

If you want to store more than just a few pieces of paper, why not consider a plastic envelope that will fit into your binder. It can store collections of photos or groups of miscellaneous items as it is tough and tear resistant. It is letter size and loads from the side but has a velcro closure to keep items secure. It would be ideal for arts and crafts items or school/college equipment.

Self Adhesive Plastic Pockets

Plastic sleeves that are self adhesive are ideal for any number of uses and as such come in any number of sizes. They can be stuck to the inside covers of binders, on divider pages or other plastic sleeves and then used to hold labels, notes, messages, business cards and many other items. This pack of 10 top loading 3″ x 2″ sleeves make it easy to personalize your folders or other presentation sleeves.

Plastic CD sleeves

Plastic sleeves specifically sized to hold CDs or DVDs are ideal for storing your music or movie collection in an ordered and manageable way. They also will not crack and break like the perspex boxes do that they come in. They will also take up less space this way. If you have amassed more CDs and DVDs than your cupboards can handle, CD and DVD plastic sleeves can be a good option to go for rather than large plastic storage boxes which make finding that one disk that bit trickier. They are cheap, durable and convenient and they don’t mean you need to throw away the empty cases – you can just store these in the garage or attic if you want to keep them. Put one CD into each sleeve, organise them into alphabetical order and file away in an album or folder. The space they take up will be much less and you can easily find what you are looking for.

CDs are of course not restricted to music collections. They might also hold your businesses computer backups or household finances. Whatever data they contain, clear plastic CD sleeves are just as beneficial to save space whilst being organized.

This set of 25 plastic CD sleeve fits in most standard binders and holds 8 CDs/DVDs per page giving you a total capacity of 200 disks. You should only keep 100 disks in each binder though to avoid possible bending, so why not use one binder for each type of CD/DVD that you own. The set is sturdy and the pockets are nice and tight so that your disks do not slip out as you turn pages. You cannot store your CD/DVD box printed matter in here too though. You could of course buy a ready made binder/disk sleeve combination but this will cost you more and this way you can choose a binder(s) that suits you better.

Plastic photo sleeves

This pack of 10 plastic sleeves for photos are 12″ x 12″ and hold six 4″ x 6″ photos per sheet. They are superior quality, acid free plastic so perfect for photos, which are loaded from the side. They have reinforced punched holes and are designed to fit in 3-ring binders.

Laminating plastic sleeves

Taking the whole clear plastic sleeve thing one step further, you can even send them through a home lamninator to seal up your document in glistening plastic and keep it away from the air and other degrading influences. You can even use these laminated plastic sleeves to create wipe on wipe off charts for home use.

This box of 100 clear laminating pouches are US letter sized and made from 3mm plastic.

Why do you need plastic sleeves?

Storage & protection

If you have important documents that need to be kept safe for a number of years, archival plastic sleeves can help. Being plastic they can withstand humidity changes, they also keep out dirt that accumulates over years of storage as well as protecting the document from damage whilst being handled. Also being designed to have very low visual distortion, you can easily read your document through the plastic without having to handle it directly. The thicker the sleeve, the more protection the sleeve will offer.

Presentation

Clear plastic sleeves are common place in businesses where documents are handed out at meetings with clients or staff. They make the document look more official and sophisticated and different documents can be presented in different colored sleeves for greater visual impact or for easier identification. They come in a number of different sizes so whatever documents you are looking to present, you will be able to find a sleeve to fit to turn your document from dull to eye catching. Higher quality, thinner and clearly polished sleeves are available for those more important occasions. Plastic sleeves have similar uses for presenting information in schools/colleges.

Organization

Just by going through the motions of buying protective plastic sleeves for paper and determining which bits of paper should be kept in them and which should be thrown away, you will find that your home or office space has become more organized. It will be easier to find that bit of paper, photograph or CD that you want when you want it rather than stumbling across it by accident weeks later.

Plastic Sleeve Mini Buying Guide

Before buying a set of plastic sleeves, consider the following questions to ensure you are buying the right ones for your purposes:

What size do you want?

What color do you want?
A number of colors will mean you can color code projects or easily see pending items.

What thickness do you want?
The thicker they are the more durable and protective they will be.

What finish do you want?
Clear or polished clear are your options. Polished clear is more professional for business purposes.

Do you have a specific purpose in mind?
Opt for single sheet, multi sheet, envelopes, self adhesive, CD/DVD pockets or photo quality depending on what you want them for.

Punched or unpunched?

Reinforced or regular?

Open at the top or side or both?
Consider how often you will be loading and unloading.

Hopefully this article has given you all the information you could possibly need to decide on how you might use plastic sleeves and the options available to you. If you still have questions, please feel free to drop me a comment below and I’ll come back to you!

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