The environmental effect of weather on your paper

Wouldn’t it be wonderful to get through 2019 without any paper jams in your Calgary printer? Most of us aren’t aware of this, but temperature and humidity affects your printer paper and has an impact on how the end print looks. Calgary business owners know how temperamental our weather system is, and how it can change in the blink of an eye.

Printer paper and moisture

Low humidity can cause issues for Calgary printers. Research shows the greatest paper handling difficulties occur on cold days when the humidity is exceptionally low. The result? Tight edges that mean sheet wrinkling and problems with static electricity.

High humidity also affects paper — as it absorbs moisture, the width of each fibre grows. Fibre lengths are not as affected. The end result is paper bloat — prints with curled edges. If you have humidifiers going on high in your Calgary business office to battle the dry winter air, this may occur.

Printers and copiers provide the best results when they know what kind of paper has been loaded — they adjust themselves to match the paper type. If you tell your device you are using 40lbs paper, but the humidity makes the paper seem like 50lbs, you’ll end up with a paper jam.

Printer paper and temperature

Temperature also plays a big role in paper quality, although this occurs typically with large press rolls of paper such as in a press room. If you store the paper in a cold place, then open the roll in the hot room, the paper will actually have condensation on it like a glass of water in the summer. For office paper, the effects aren’t as noticeable, but are still there.

How to prevent environmental problems with your printer paper

Store your paper in a controlled space. Do some research into where you are purchasing your paper — if you can buy your paper from a mill in your same geographical area, then you will have less of a problem with print related issues. The mill will have used local trees which are already accustomed to the same environment.

Purchase better quality paper. Typically, more expensive, higher quality paper is not affected as much by the weather because the fibres are tighter, leaving reduced room for expansion and better climate problem prevention.

If you would like to learn more about printer options in the Calgary area, please feel free to contact us.

Here’s to a jam-free and successful year in 2019! Thank you for reading our blog!