3. Calender rolls

As we pointed out in the description of calenders, there are two categories of rollers for calenders: hard rollers and elastic rollers.

Hard rollers are metal rollers that can be heated. Elastic or "soft" rollers, as opposed to hard rollers, are rollers coated with natural fibers or polymers.

Hard rollers are generally used to heat the sheet and to develop the paper's surface properties thanks to their very smooth surfaces. Elastic rollers are used to increase the width of the contact zone between the metal roller and the paper, and to distribute pressure evenly across this contact zone.