Close up of 130 GSM gloss printed menu stock

130 GSM, Laminated or Wipeable: What to Print Your Menu On

September 16, 2026

130 GSM gloss is the right stock for a takeaway menu that goes through letterboxes, sits on a counter, and gets replaced every few months. A laminated or wipeable stock is for a sit-in menu that one set of copies has to survive weeks of hands, spills and grease. A folded flyer needs to fold cleanly and cost little enough to bin. A table menu that lives in front of every diner all day needs to survive that diner, not the letterbox.

What kind of paper should I print menus on?

Use 130 GSM gloss for anything that gets posted, handed out or reprinted often, and use a heavier board or a laminated finish for anything that stays on a table and gets picked up all day. A takeaway menu is a marketing item, printed in the hundreds or thousands and replaced as soon as the offer or the prices change. A sit-in table menu is closer to a piece of equipment. You buy a set once and expect it to last.

Close up of 130 GSM gloss printed menu stock

What thickness paper is best for menus?

For a delivery or takeaway menu, 130 GSM is thick enough to read as a proper menu and thin enough to fold and post. GSM means grams per square metre, the weight of one square metre of the sheet. It is not a measure of stiffness on its own, but in practice a higher number means a thicker, heavier sheet in your hand. A5 flyer paper sits around 130 GSM. A business card runs closer to 350 GSM. Table menus and anything laminated usually start heavier again, around 170 GSM or more, before any film or coating goes on top.

130 GSM, 170 GSM or laminated: how they compare

Here is how the three main options behave once they are actually in someone's hands.

Stock	What it is	Best suited to	Handling and spills	Folds cleanly
130 GSM gloss	Light coated paper, printed full colour both sides	Takeaway and delivery menus, door drops, anything reprinted often	Softens if it gets wet or greasy, treat as single-use	Yes, folds crisply for A4 folded formats
170 GSM+ board	Heavier uncoated or lightly coated card	Sit-in menus handled by staff rather than left with customers all day	Copes with normal handling better than 130 GSM, but not spill-proof	Creases rather than folding cleanly, better as a flat or single-fold sheet
Laminated or wipeable	A card or synthetic PVC sheet sealed in plastic film, or printed straight onto a plastic-like stock	Table menus that stay out all service, bar menus, anything wiped down between covers	Wipes clean and resists spills and grease	No, the film or the stock cracks along a fold, best kept flat or as single pages

What is the cheapest way to print menus?

The cheapest way to print a menu is 130 GSM gloss, flat or single-folded, ordered in bulk and treated as disposable. On 130 GSM A5 flat menus, 1,000 costs £89.32 and 5,000 costs £115.12, which is 2.3p a sheet. An A4 folded menu, 1,000 copies, costs £108.34. Prices correct as of September 2026. For run sizes in between, see the guide to how many menus to print and the full menu printing price list.

At 2.3p a sheet, reprinting the whole batch when a price changes is often cheaper than laminating in the first place. Costs move more than owners expect. National Living Wage rose from £12.21 to £12.71 on 1 April 2026, up 4.1%, announced in the Autumn Budget on 26 November 2025, source: gov.uk. The Foodservice Price Index, run by Prestige Purchasing with NielsenIQ, spiked 1.8% in a single month in June 2026, the largest move of the year. Shaun Allen, Prestige Purchasing's CEO, said on 24 July 2026:

"The 1.8% month-on-month spike is a stark reminder of how fragile the food supply chain remains."

UKHospitality forecast on 12 January 2026 that 2,076 hospitality closures were likely without a change to business rates, including 963 restaurants, with average pub rates up 15% in 2026. When costs move that often, a menu you expect to touch again within the year is not a good candidate for lamination.

Laminated menu printing cost

I don't publish a fixed price for laminated, wipeable or PVC menu stock, because the film weight, the board underneath and the size all change what it costs to make. Heavier board and laminated finishes cost more than 130 GSM gloss, and the honest answer is to message 07883 297 737 on WhatsApp for a real quote against your sizes and quantity, rather than take a number that was never checked against your job.

The trade-off nobody states plainly: a laminated menu lasts far longer, but you cannot cheaply reprint it the moment a price changes, and a stiff laminated sheet does not fold through a letterbox without cracking. So the right choice depends on what the menu is for you. A marketing item that gets replaced whenever the offer changes wants 130 GSM gloss. A fixture that has to survive in front of every table for months earns its higher price in laminated or wipeable stock.

Laminated menu meaning

A laminated menu is a printed sheet sealed inside a layer of clear plastic film, or printed directly onto a synthetic PVC-type stock that behaves the same way once it is on the table. Either route wipes clean and does not go soft if a drink gets knocked over it. It's a finish, not a paper weight, which is why it usually sits on a heavier board rather than on 130 GSM.

Price changes without a reprint

If your prices change and you don't want to reprint a laminated menu at all, sticker rolls are the practical fix. A roll of 1,000 sticker rolls costs £124.00, and you stick the new price straight over the old one on a laminated sheet that is otherwise still fine. It's cheaper than a full reprint and it doesn't touch the rest of the menu, the layout, or the size you settled on when you first had it made.

Frequently asked questions

What is the cheapest way to print a takeaway menu?

130 GSM gloss, flat or single-folded, ordered in bulk and treated as disposable. A5 flat menus cost £89.32 for 1,000 or £115.12 for 5,000, 2.3p a sheet at that quantity. Prices correct as of September 2026. Reprint when your offer or prices change, rather than paying more for a finish built to last years.

Do you print laminated or wipeable menus?

Yes, on request, but there's no fixed price on the site because film weight, board thickness and size all change the cost. Message 07883 297 737 on WhatsApp with your sizes and quantity for a proper quote, rather than a number that might not hold up against your job.

What GSM should a folded A4 menu be?

130 GSM gloss is the standard weight for a folded A4 menu, thick enough to feel like a proper menu and thin enough to fold cleanly. Heavier stock around 170 GSM or above creases rather than folding, so it suits a flat or single-page sit-in menu better than a folded one.

What happens if my prices change after I've laminated my menu?

You don't have to reprint the whole thing. A roll of stickers over the old price is the cheaper fix, 1,000 for £124.00, and it keeps the rest of the laminated menu in use. It's a smaller job than remaking a sheet that was never built to be cheap to replace.

Is 170 GSM better than 130 GSM for a menu?

It depends on the job. 170 GSM and heavier board feels stiffer and more premium, and suits a menu that stays on a table rather than one that gets posted or handed out. It costs more than 130 GSM, so ask for a quote rather than assume a price.

Can I get menu printing without using a local printer?

Yes. Direct Menu Printing delivers UK-wide from Stoke-on-Trent with free delivery on every order, so there's no need for a local print shop. Turnaround is 5 to 9 working days as standard, or 48 hours express if you're stuck.