About Scotch
Scotch is the office and consumer adhesives brand of 3M, the Minnesota-based manufacturer founded in 1902 and headquartered in Maplewood. The brand traces back to 1930, when 3M engineer Richard Drew invented the original cellophane tape while working to solve a paint-masking problem for automotive painters, and it has carried the 3M name across tape, adhesives, and, more recently, laminators and glue sticks ever since.
In our own testing, Scotch's laminator line stood out for reliability at scale: the TL901X thermal laminator carries the deepest review base of any machine in our laminators roundup, and the step-up PRO TL906 adds patented Never Jam Technology for higher-volume use. The brand's glue stick line carries ASTM D-4236 compliance, the institutional standard that school and library procurement contracts frequently require, alongside the acid-free, photo-safe, washable formulation common across the line.
Brand website: scotchbrand.com
What Scotch makes
Scotch's range runs wider than the products we review. The lines we know best from our own testing are marked with a star:
Cellophane & Magic Tape
the original 1930 invention, still sold in household and office formats
Thermal Laminators
9-inch, jam-resistant, and 13-inch wide-format machines — featured on DeskRated
Glue Sticks & Adhesives
jumbo single sticks and institutional-spec multi-packs — featured on DeskRated
Packaging & Shipping Tape
box-sealing and shipping tape
Mounting & Double-Sided Tape
permanent and removable mounting tape
Correction Tape & Rollers
handheld correction tape dispensers
Why we recognized Scotch
The DeskRated Top Brand recognition isn't paid for and can't be applied for. We award it to the brands whose products consistently stand out in our hands-on category reviews. Scotch earned it on the strength of the products below, evaluated the same way every product on this site is: bought, used at a real desk, and judged on merit.
Scotch products we rated highly
Scotch TL901X Thermal Laminator
In our testing this carried the deepest review base of any laminator in the roundup, with dual heated rollers that produced bubble-free, wrinkle-free results across both 3 mil and 5 mil pouches, in a compact footprint that fits on a desk edge or teacher workstation.
Read the 7 Best Laminators of 2026 guide →
Scotch PRO Thermal Laminator TL906
Never Jam Technology uses a patented roller geometry that self-corrects misaligned pouches before they can bind, and faster throughput than the base TL901X made this the machine we recommended for teachers and administrative staff who laminate in bursts of 15+ pages per session.
Read the 7 Best Laminators of 2026 guide →
Scotch Thermal Laminator TL1302X, 13-Inch Wide Format
The widest feed in our laminators roundup at 13 inches, handling 11x17 tabloid paper, A3 documents, and standard poster prints without trimming, with a roughly one-minute warm-up that kept the wider format from costing users wait time.
Read the 7 Best Laminators of 2026 guide →
Scotch Glue Stick, 1.41 oz Single
A 40g jumbo single-stick format that matches the large-stick category at a lower entry price than multi-packs, with an acid-free, photo-safe, washable formula suited to general office and light classroom use.
Read the 7 Best Glue Sticks of 2026 guide →
Scotch Glue Stick, 0.28 oz, 18-Pack (6008-18)
This 18-pack carries the ASTM D-4236 standard that school, library, and clinic supply contracts often specify, packaged as small 8g sticks sized for envelope sealing, label backing, and quick paper assembly in institutional settings.
Read the 7 Best Glue Sticks of 2026 guide →What earned Scotch the recognition
- The TL901X drew the deepest review base of any laminator we tested, at over 61,000 verified ratings, a real-world reliability signal built over years of sustained purchase volume.
- Scotch's laminator line spans three feed widths and warm-up profiles in our roundup, from the compact 9-inch TL901X to the 13-inch TL1302X for tabloid and poster-size documents.
- The PRO TL906's Never Jam Technology uses a patented roller geometry that self-corrects misaligned pouches before they can bind.
- Scotch's glue stick line carries ASTM D-4236 compliance, the institutional-procurement standard that school district and library supply contracts often specify.
- Backed by 3M, whose adhesive engineering has underpinned Scotch products since Richard Drew invented the original cellophane tape at the company in 1930.