Cross-Cut Shredders for Home & Office Use
Everything to know about P-3 and P-4 cross cutting shredders
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If you want a secure yet affordable paper shredder, you are looking for a cross-cut shredder. These shredding machines cut your documents diagonally in both directions. Therefore cross-cut shredders are also known as confetti-cut or particle-cut shredders. What is a cross-cut shredder used for?
Cross-cut shredders are getting used to cut confidential paper documents into small unreadable particles. The P-3 or P-4 security level of cross-cut shredders gives them the ideal security level for destroying private personal information or general confidential documents at work.
Top 10 Cross-Cut Shredders
8 Best Cross Cut Paper Shredders
What are the best cross-cutting shredder machines you can buy? Below you can find ten recommendations which suit all kinds of needs. Such as a cross-cut shredder for home use or on to use in the office for departmental shredding. Whether you are looking for a cross-cut paper shredder for personal use or professional use, there is always a suitable shredder for you.
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AmazonBasics 15-Sheet Cross-Cut
Recommended for home or personal use
Our #1 Best Seller
With the AmazonBasics 15-Sheet Cross-Cut you shred up to 15 sheets per pass. This small home shredder is pretty powerful because you can shred up to 20 minutes continuously. The shredder has indicators for overheating and overloading. This powerful shredder also shreds all of your old CDs and credit cards.
- Security level: Cross-cut
- Run time: 20 minutes
- Sheet capacity: 15 pages
- Bin capacity: 6 gallons
AmazonBasics 12-Sheet Cross-Cut
Ideal for home office
The AmazonBasics 12-Sheet is a small basic shredder that can shred up to 12 sheets of paper per run, but it can also shred old credit cards. This shredder has a continuous run time of approximately 7 minutes before the shredding machine needs to cool down for 30 minutes.
- Security level: Cross-cut
- Run time: 7 minutes
- Sheet capacity: 12 pages
- Bin capacity: 4.8 gallons
AmazonBasics 8-Sheet Cross-Cut
Budget-friendly cross-cut shredder
The AmazonBasics 8 Sheet Cross-Cut is a basic and affordable shredder. Perfect when you want to shred some documents at home or in the office occasionally. You can also shred credit cards with this shredder, but it can’t shred CDs or DVDs. This shredder is the best basic cross-cut shredder for under $50.
- Security level: Cross-cut
- Run time: 3 minutes
- Sheet capacity: 8 pages
- Bin capacity: 4.1 gallons
Fellowes Powershred 99Ci
Recommended for small office or business use
The Fellowes Powershred 99Ci is an all-around small office shredder for 1-3 users. You can shred up to 18 sheets of confidential documents per pass. Besides documents, you can shred CDs, DVDs, credit cards, paper clips, and staples.
- Security level: Cross-cut
- Run time: 30 minutes
- Sheet capacity: 18 pages
- Bin capacity: 9 gallons
Bonsaii EverShred C149-C 18-Sheet
Great for in the Office
The Bonsaii EverShred C149-C is a so-called medium-duty shredder, which can shred 18-sheets at a time and can run for 60 minutes continuously before needing to cool down. Additionally, the shredder can also handle credit cards, clips, CDs, DVDs, and staples.
- Security level: Cross-cut
- Run time: 60 minutes
- Sheet capacity: 18 pages
- Bin capacity: 6 gallons
Aurora AS420C Cross-Cut
Small Desktop-Style Shredder for the Home Office
The Aurora AS420C Cross-Cut has a handle at the top so you can transport it where ever you want. The feed opening is only 4.5 inches wide, so you need to fold your A4 documents in half before shredding. However, the small wastebasket can hold shredder particles of 40 sheets.
- Security level: Cross-cut
- Run time: 2 minutes
- Sheet capacity: 4 pages
- Bin capacity: 1.3 gallons
Bonsaii 14-Sheet Cross-Cut
Budget-Friendly High Performance Office Shredder
The Bonsaii 14-Sheet Cross-Cut is a compact yet powerful shredder for small office use. It has a long run time, large bin capacity, and sheet capacity without being super expensive. The simplistic design doesn’t look impressive. However, it still has safe and jam-proof features.
- Security level: Cross-cut
- Run time: 30 minutes
- Sheet capacity: 14 pages
- Bin capacity: 4.5 gallons
Bonsaii 6-Sheet Cross-Cut
Small Shredder for Home Use
The Bonsaii 6-Sheet Cross-Cut is a sweet small shredder that can be used deskside at home. It shreds up to 6 sheets per pass into P-4 cross-cut paper particles. The motor has a run-time of 2 minutes, it needs to cool down for 30 minutes, but this will not be a problem for occasional shredders.
- Security level: Cross-cut
- Run time: 4 minutes
- Sheet capacity: 6 pages
- Bin capacity: 3.4 gallons
A cross cut shredder shreds your confidential documents in DIN P-3 or P-4 particles.
More about cross-cut shredders
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What is a cross-cut shredder?
What does cross-cut shredding mean? A cross-cut shredder is also known as a confetti-cut, particle-cut, criss-cross cut, or diamond-cut shredder because of the small paper particles the machine produces after shredding.
These types of paper shredders cut documents diagonally from both corners. The result after shredding your documents is small paper particles that are barely readable. This is why cross-cut shredders offer more security than a strip-cut paper shredder, but not quite as much as micro-cut shredders.
A cross-cut shredder sits between a strip-cut shredder (low security) and a micro-cut shredder (high security). A micro-cut shredder is an advanced type of cross-cut shredder that shreds each document in even smaller ‘micro-cut’ particles.
Cross-cut shredders provide you enough security for shredding common confidential documents at home or in the office. For extra security, opt for a micro-cut shredder.
So, which one is better for you? Read this post about the difference between a cross-cut shredder or a micro-cut shredder.
Is a cross-cut shredder secure?
Although there are more secure shredders out there than cross-cut shredders, they are relatively secure. They will do the job if you are shredding day-to-day confidential or private information. The shredder cuts the paper diagonally into very small pieces, making it nearly impossible to puzzle back together. Cross-cut shredders are much more secure than strip-cut shredders, where the paper pieces are easy to reconstruct and read.
In short, yes. Cross-cut shredders are very secure if you are shredding normal confidential documents with them.
Check best micro-cut shredders
Pros and cons
Pros:
- Shreds documents in small particles
- Wide choice of cross-cut shredders
- Particles are more condensed than strips
- Documents are hard to reconstruct
- Shreds faster than micro-cut shredders
Cons:
- Needs maintenance and oiling
- Not recommended for highly confidential documents
- Generally slower than strip-cut shredders
Do you need a cross-cut shredder?
If you have data on paper that is confidential or private and want to discard it without risking that someone else gets access to it, you need to make this paper unreadable. One method to do this is to shred it. Therefore, we recommend having a shredder if you are ever in a situation where you want to discard important private information printed on paper.
Why does it need to be a cross-cut shredder? It doesn’t. However, do keep in mind that strip-cut shredders are not sufficiently secure to ensure that your data is safe. On top of that, micro-cut shredders will do the job.
Still, these machines tend to be more expensive because they are for businesses that regularly shred large amounts of confidential information.
Which security level is cross-cut?
A cross-cut shredder sits under security level P-3 and/or P-4, according to the official DIN 66399 standard for paper destruction and other media.
Some manufacturers claim that a P-4 shredder is called micro-cut, while others classify P-4 as a cross-cut shredder. Since it is prevalent that a P-4 shredder is called ‘micro-cut’ or ‘high security,’ we also use this term for P-4 classified shredders.
What does cross-cut paper shredding look like?
The paper particles of cross-cut shredders look like narrow and short paper strips.
Use a cross-cut shredder for:
- Medium level of security
- For shredding sensitive documents
- Short and narrow paper shreds
- Cuts diagonally from both corners
- Approximately 400 particles per shredded document (size: A4)
- Security level: DIN P-3, DIN P-4
Check best micro-cut shredders
How does a cross-cut shredder work?
A cross-cut shredder contains two counter-turning cutting blades with v-shaped edges. It is because of these v-shapes the shredder cuts the document diagonally from both corners. This results in diamond-shaped paper strips or particles.
It depends on the security level of how small these particles will get. In comparison with a strip-cut shredder, a cross-cut shredder has a more advanced shredding mechanism. A strip-cut shredder only cuts documents vertically. This is why a strip-cut shredder produces the familiar long strips.
Which shredder type is the best for you?
Are you in doubt about a cross-cut, strip-cut or micro-cut shredder? What is the difference and what is the best option for you?
Crosscut or strip-cut shredder?
A strip-cut shredder produces long narrow strips that are still easy to read or puzzle together. The advantage of strip-cut shredders is that these shredders are pretty fast because of the simple strip shredding.
A cross-cut shredder shreds documents in small particles, which demands more power from the shredder machine. Therefore these shredders are generally a bit slower. We recommend it for shredding confidential documents to use a cross-cut shredder and not a strip-cut paper shredder.
Cross-cut or micro-cut shredder?
A cross-cut shredder offers a medium level of security for your confidential documents. This means that shredded documents are not readable anymore, and it is difficult to reconstruct a full document. Therefore, a cross-cut will do for everyday confidential information. But it might be possible that some particles still contain some information, such as a snippet of a number, word, or an image.
If you want extra security, you might consider a micro-cut shredder. These types of shredders offer more protection because the particles are even smaller in size. However, keep in mind that a cross-cut shredder is quicker than a micro-cut shredder and doesn’t need to be lubricated with shredder oil as much.
Maintenance of a cross-cut shredder
To keep your cross-cut paper shredder run smoothly, it is recommended to oil the shredder regularly. We recommend lubricating your shredder each time after intensive use or every time that you empty the waste bin of your shredder.
You can find in the user manual further instructions about how to oil your paper shredder. You can use official shredder oil, or you can use lubricant sheets to lubricate the paper shredder’s blades.
TIP: Read more about how to oil your shredder.
Shredder guide
What to look for when buying a shredder? Read our Paper Shredder Guide.
Paper shredders for home or office
By Recycling.com/ 2 May 2021
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