Paper Shredder FAQs

If you are considering getting a paper shredder, you may have some questions about how to choose one. This page of Frequently Asked Questions (FAQs) will discuss many of the most common things that people consider in choosing a paper shredder for office or home.

1. How do I decide what type of paper shredder to get?

Shredders are essentially divided into two categories: personal shredders and commercial shredders. Within the commercial category there are further subdivisions, such as office shredders. We'll go through all of these.

2. I have a small home-based business and I know I need a shredder. What kind do I need?

If your business doesn't generate a massive amount of confidential data that needs shredding, you will do fine with a personal paper shredder. It can be a straight cut paper shredder, also called a strip cut shredder, which makes long strips from your paper when you run it through, or it can be a cross cut shredder, which cuts both lengthwise and sideways and thus creates more bits of paper.

3. How do I decide if a particular model of shredder will do enough for my needs?

If you are getting a personal paper shredder for home use or for a small home business, you will need to be only running the shredder for a few minutes now and then. Many of these models will overheat--and likely turn off--after about fifteen minutes.

Different models will state different things about how many pieces of paper you can run through at a time but we have found that you are best off running no more than about eight pages at a time, even if the specs state a higher number. By the way, staples go through fine and even paper clips are theoretically allowed. A reverse switch is useful when something begins to jam, and most personal models have one.

You can expect several years of light use with this sort of shredder. It is designed to fit under a desk and to be easy to empty and to replace the  bag you collect the shreds in.

If you are selecting a shredder for the office, be sure to purchase one with specs that are higher than you expect to need. These machines are much sturdier than the personal use models and able to take a lot more paper at once. They are meant to be run a lot, but they still need breaks. Just like us!

4. What are the different types of commercial paper shredders?

You may need an office shredder or perhaps a departmental shredder. For heavier use (in warehouses, for example) there are industrial shredders.

An office shredder is often shared by several people in an office. Departmental shredders can handle a great deal more paper at one time, well over 100 pages in most cases. They are often used for an entire floor of a company's office building, and some of them can also devour CDs, credit cards, and the like.

Industrial shredders have huge capacity and have options like hoppers and conveyor belts, even balers. You might be running half a ton of paper through one of these big boys in an hour!

Shredders are also described by their cutting methods, such as the straight cut and cross cut ones already mentioned.

5. What maintenance does a paper shredder need?

Any paper shredder needs maintenance and they all come with documentation (often PDF files) that tell you what is needed. They need oiling. You need to be sure to replace the bags of shredded paper once they fill up; leaving a bag in place too long is a common cause of jamming. The machines can generate dust in the process of shredding, and that may need to be wiped off.

6. How noisy are paper shredders?

It really depends on the type. Even with the simplest kind, you wouldn't want to be talking on the phone at the same time as running it. Check the specs before purchasing and consider the decibel level of competing brands and models. Also consider where the thing is going to be kept.

 7. Will a paper shredder handle credit cards, CDs, DVDs, and other plastic items?

Even a  straight-cut personal paper shredder may be able to shred credit cards so long as you don't feed it a steady diet; check its specs. There are special CD shredders and even hard drive shredders available too.

 8. We do contract work for the military so we need a killer device. What kind do we need?

You may end up getting a kind of cross-cut shredder called a confetti paper shredder. As you would guess from the name, this will turn your page into smithereens. Get the specs of what you need from the military and be sure you meet or exceed them in your purchase; there are a lot of shredders out there with names that sound like they are high security, but be sure they meet the specs you need. Many models will reduce one sheet of paper to over twelve thousand bits! Also find out what you need to do to get rid of all those little bits of paper.

9. What brand of paper shredder am I most likely to be satisfied with?

If you select the right size for your needs many of the brands will be suitable. That said, here are some of the better known brands: Boxis, Clary, Dahle, Destroyit, Fellowes, Formax, GBC, Intimus, Kobra, Olympia, ScriptStroyer, and Swingline.