What Are Mailers With Tear-Off Edges Called? Pressure Seal Mailers, Explained

We still get this question every week: “What do you call those mailers where you tear the perforated edges off and unfold them?” They are pressure seal mailers — also sold as pressure seal forms, pressure-sensitive self-mailers, or simply one-piece mailers. A check stub, a bank statement, a PIN notice, a report card: if you tore the sides off to open it, it was a pressure seal mailer.

The short answer

A pressure seal mailer is a single sheet of paper that is printed, folded and sealed into its own envelope. The sheet arrives with strips of pressure-sensitive adhesive already applied along the edges. A pressure sealer folds it and runs it between heavy rollers; the pressure bonds the strips, and the piece comes out sealed, ready for postage. No envelope, no inserting, no moistening, no heat. The perforations along each edge are what the recipient tears off to open it.

How a pressure seal mailer works

1. Print. The form is printed like any other sheet — the address on the panel that will face out, the content on the panels that fold inside. Most people run them on a laser printer; the paper is a heavier stock with the adhesive strips pre-applied.
2. Fold. The sealer folds the sheet in a Z, C or V pattern (below) so the adhesive strips line up.
3. Seal. The folded piece passes through pressure rollers that bond the strips. Done correctly, the seal is stronger than a licked envelope flap and is tamper-evident — you cannot open it without tearing the perforations.

The result is a finished, sealed mail piece from one pass of one sheet. Print, run the stack through the sealer, apply postage, mail. It is the simplest one-step mailing there is, and usually the least expensive per piece for one-page documents.

What you need

• Pressure seal forms. Blank or pre-printed sheets with the adhesive strips and perforations already in place, available in every common fold pattern, in 8.5 x 11 and 8.5 x 14 sizes, plain or with security tints for checks.
• A printer. Laser is the norm; color or monochrome. A rear or straight-through paper exit only matters if you want an in-line system that feeds the printer’s output directly into the sealer. With a stand-alone sealer, any printer works — print the job, then carry the stack to the sealer.
• A pressure sealer. Sized to your volume, from a desktop unit for a few hundred pieces a day to production models that run tens of thousands an hour. Details below.

Common fold styles

• Z-fold — the most common. Three panels folded in a zigzag; the address panel faces out, two panels of content inside. Standard for checks, statements and notices.
• C-fold — three panels folded inward like a letter; a little more room for a message.
• V-fold — folded once in half; two panels. Used for shorter notices and 14-inch forms where you need more printable area per panel.

The fold is set on the sealer — the better machines switch between patterns in seconds, so one machine can run checks in the morning and statements in the afternoon.

What people mail this way

Anything one page long that should not be read by the wrong person: payroll and vendor checks, invoices and statements, PIN and password notices, tax forms such as W-2s and 1099s, grade reports, appointment and past-due reminders, benefit notices and utility bills. Because the piece is sealed the moment it is folded, there is no window envelope to match and no chance of the wrong statement landing in the wrong envelope.

Choosing a pressure sealer

All For Mailers carries the full Formax AutoSeal line, new and refurbished. As a rule of thumb:

• A few hundred pieces a day: the desktop Formax FD 1202 (38 forms a minute) or the touchscreen FD 1406 (up to 73 a minute).
• A few thousand a day: the FD 2006 (up to 8,000 an hour) or the FD 2006IL in-line system, which takes forms straight from the printer so print, fold and seal happen in one pass.
• Daily production runs: the FD 2036 (up to 11,000 an hour) and up through the FD 2096 high-volume production sealer.

See every model in our pressure sealer catalog, or ask about a refurbished pressure sealer — we rebuild them on our own bench and stand behind them. Outgrowing a machine? We buy used mailing equipment and take trade-ins.

Watch a pressure sealer in action

Formax’s installation video for the FD 1202 shows the whole process on a desktop unit — loading the forms, setting the fold, and the sealed pieces coming off the end.

Why buy from All For Mailers

All For Mailers is a veteran-owned dealer, established in 2006 — our people have been putting pressure sealers on customers’ floors since 1991, so we can tell you which model actually fits your volume rather than which one is the most expensive. Call 866-430-2874 with your monthly piece count and the form you plan to run, and we will size it for you.

Quick answers

Do I need a special printer? No. Any laser printer that handles the heavier form stock will do. A straight-through paper path is only required for an in-line sealer that is fed directly by the printer.

Are pressure seal mailers secure? Yes. The adhesive bond is tamper-evident; the piece cannot be opened and resealed without tearing the perforations. Security-tinted forms are available for checks and PIN mailers.

Can I mail more than one page? No — a pressure seal mailer is one sheet. Multi-page documents belong in an envelope, which is what a folder inserter is for.

Does the sealer use heat or water? Neither. The bond comes from pressure alone, which is why the machines are quiet, need no warm-up and use no sealing fluid.