Best Paper Shredder for Home

Home Shredder Guide

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What shredder do you need?

It is important to shred documents with personal or sensitive information before you recycle it. This prevents the possibility of identity theft. Don’t just throw away your un-shredded sensitive paperwork into your recycling bin, because this is a one of the places where identity thieves look for to obtain personal information. That is why it is recommended to always shred before you recycle.

It might be tempting to buy the cheapest shredder you can find. But you will probably end up with a less secure strip-cut shredder. These shredders are not capable of destroying confidential papers. Therefore, choose for a cross-cut shredder (at least) when you want to protect yourself from identity theft and fraud.

The best shredder for you depends on your demands and expectations. Are you looking for a basic shredder that you only use for occasional shredding or do you want a shredder to shred relatively high volumes of confidential documents in your home office? To find the right shredder for you, there are some key features to look out for.

In our extensive shredder guide you can read everything about shredder specifications and important features. But for your convenience we’ve selected three key features that are relevant for you which we’ll discuss briefly down below:

• #1 – What do you want to shred?
• #2 – How long do you want to shred?
  
• #3 – How many sheets do you want to shred?
  
• #4 – What size waste bin do you prefer?
  
• #5 – What security level do you prefer?

#1 – What do you want to shred?

What materials do you want to destroy in your shredder? Of course you want to shred your confidential paper documents. But besides shredding paper you might also want your shredder to destroy other materials such as staples, paperclips, credit cards, CDs and DVDs. Not every shredder can do this, although most of the machines can handle a few stapled documents every now and then. When you demand your shredder to regularly shred stapled documents or files with a paperclip attached to it, you should look for a shredder that can handles these harder materials to avoid any damage to your shredder.

Also CDs, DVDs and credit cards can only be destroyed with a shredder that can process these materials. Some shredders provide a dedicated slot for destroying compact disks and cards. There are also paper shredders that contain a separate container to capture the shredded plastic material to avoid contaminating the paper particles.

#2 – How long do you want to shred?

Each shredder has its limits. These limits come visible when you look at the maximum run time, maximum sheet capacity and bin capacity of the machine.

The run time tells you about the maximum amount of time the shredder can shred paper continuously. Basic shredders can run for just a few minutes, while some heavy-duty paper shredders can run for a hour or longer. A shredder can overheat while in use, so to prevent this from happening the shredder stops working automatically to let the motor cool down. The cooling down time can take quite a while, take into account 30 minutes or more.

We recommend a shredder with a run time of 5 minutes or more.

So when you want to shred a large pile of old documents, it isn’t convenient using a budget shredder that can only run for 2 minutes. On the other hand when you only shred a few documents incidentally, a short run time is just fine. Keep in mind that a paper shredder with a longer run time is more expensive, so consider for you self if you really need the extra minutes.

#3 – How many sheets do you want to shred?

A shredder can only shred a few documents per pass. The number of documents you can shred per pass is called the sheet capacity of the shredder. Basic shredders can shred around five to ten standard A4 documents at a time. But the higher end models can shred through larger stacks of documents.

Keep in mind that you should interpret the maximum sheet capacity with a grain of salt to prevent the paper shredder from jamming. So instead of shredding the maximum amount of documents, we suggest to shred one document less. The reason for this is that you might shred a document that is a bit thicker than normally, or a document is folded in two and thus makes it a thicker pile.

#4 – What size waste bin do you prefer?

Do you want a compact sized paper shredder you can easily put under your desk or store away in a closet? Then you have to compensate on the capacity of the waste bin. A smaller sized bin can hold less paper shreds and thus needs to be emptied more often. This isn’t an inconvenience when you only shred a few documents a week. But when you use a shredder in your home office and shred regularly, it can be an annoyance to empty the bin every day.

The average size of a home shredder is around 3 to 5 gallons. The amount of paper shreds or strips it can hold depends on the security level of the shredder. Smaller paper particles take up less space than long strips from a strip-cut shredder.

#5 – What security level do you prefer?

The security level of a paper shredder tells you about the size of the paper particles after shredding a document. Generally shredders are divided into strip-cut, cross-cut and micro-cut shredders. But officially shredders are classified with a DIN P-level, which is used worldwide to categorize the security level of paper shredders, for example DIN P-3 (or P3 for short). The higher the number of the level, the smaller the paper particles are.

The DIN P-level is part of the official German DIN 66399 standard (since 2012) which is the international standard for secure shredding of data media developed by the Deutsches Institut für Normung (DIN) which translates to the German Institute for Standardization.

For most home shredding needs we recommend a document shredder that is classified with DIN P-3 or DIN P-4. These type of shredders are cross-cut shredders and are able to shred you confidential documents into small particles. For extra security look for a DIN P-5 micro-cut shredder. We suggest skipping any strip-cut shredder (P1 and P2), because these shredders are only meant for shredding non-confidential papers such as junk mail.

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Our Top Pick:

We recommend the AmazonBasics 12-Sheet High-Security. This silent and compact micro-cut shredder is a feature-packed device that does it all. It is secure, it can shred CDs and credit cards and has a high sheet capacity.

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Strip-cut, cross-cut or micro-cut?

The recommended shredders in our top 10 all shred according to security levels DIN P-3 or higher (more about security levels). So these shredders are perfect to use for shredding confidential documents. The shredders are also small and compact so they won’t take up lots of floor space and thanks to their size you can fit them under your desk in your home office.

When you are looking for a shredder with a longer run-time, higher sheet capacity and or higher bin capacity we recommend to look for an office shredder or and heavy-duty shredder. These type of shredders will cost more but offer faster shredding speeds and overall better performance. So when you want to shred more documents than the average home shredder can handle, it is recommended to invest a bit more than $100.00 for your shredder. You can find more professional shredders for office use here.

Buy a cross-cut or micro-cut shredder

Can’t you just get the cheapest paper shredder you can find? Even if you use the shredder only a few times a month? We really recommend to invest a little bit more money in your home shredder. Most cheap shredders are very slow, jam quickly, can only shred one or two sheets at a time and they ‘shred’ your paper in long strips instead of small particles. These long strips can still contain a lot of readable text, especially when you shred a document that is printed in landscape-mode. These so called ‘strip-cut’ shredders aren’t recommended for the destruction of confidential documents. But you can use a strip-cut paper shredder for non-confidential documents, such as junk mail.

A cross-cut or micro-cut shredder is a better option for home use to be sure that your documents will be shredded properly in small particles. The difference between these is that a micro-cut shredder will shred your documents in smaller particles than a cross-cut shredding machine. It is up to you how much security you prefer. But for home use a cross-cut shredder fulfills most peoples’ needs.

Click on one of the document shredder categories below to find more recommended shredders. Micro-cut paper shredders offer the highest security which results in very small paper particles after shredding.

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How much does a shredder cost?

The average price of a reliable personal paper shredder for home use is about 50 dollars. This price is based on the average price of 20 popular personal shredders on Amazon. The price varies between different brands and models and is based on features, security levels and specifications. Below are some estimated prices:

• 6-sheet cross-cut shredder (paper) – Approx. $30
• 8-sheet cross-cut shredder (paper & credit cards) – Approx. $40
• 12-sheet cross-cut shredder (paper & credit cards & CDs) – Approx. $70

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How long does a shredder last?

A shredder can last for years without any problems, but only when you use in properly. We recommend to always follow the instructions and guidelines of the manufacturer from your shredder. This means for instance that you don’t exceed the maximum sheet capacity per pass and don’t shred materials the shredder can’t handle, such as thick cardboard or plastic sheets.

To keep your shredder run smoothly and to prevent the shredder from jamming all the time it is recommended to lubricate your shredder often with official paper shredder oil. This oil comes in a liquid form or in oil-sheets, called lubricant sheets. The shredder oil makes sure the cutting blades of the shredder will run as smoothly as possible. Due to paper shredding a lot of dust gets stuck in between the blades, the oil will take care of it. We advise to oil your shredder every time you need to empty the bin of the shredder or after intensive usage of the shredder.

How to oil your paper shredder?

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AmazonBasics shredders

As you might have noted, our list contains quite a few paper shredders from AmazonBasics. Why is that? The reason for this is that there are a lot of AmazonBasics shredders that tick the right boxes for a great home (office) shredder. Most of the shredders made by Amazon are all-round shredding machines that can do exactly the things an average user wants it to do.

This means, besides shredding paper it can often shred staples and paperclips. And quite a lot of the AmazonBasics shredders can also shred CDs, DVDs and credit cards. But other brands, like Fellowes, HSM or Bonsaii, can do this as well. That is true, but the AmazonBasics shredders can handle a higher sheet capacity and can run for a longer time continuously in comparison with their main competitors. That plus competitive prices make AmazonBasics shredders a very good choice and actually hard to leave out of your short list. Lastly, the machines are reviewed by a lot of customers so you can read about experiences of real users and most of the users are very pleased with their shredder.

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Recommended shredder pages

• Small office shredders – Cross-cut and micro-cut shredders for commercial and professional use. These secure high-end shredders destroy confidential business documents into small particles.
• Heavy duty shredders – For high volume shredding it is recommended to use a shredder that is able to shred multiple documents per pass continuously.
• Cross-cut shredders – These type of shredders are able to destroy documents into small paper particles according to security level P-3 and P-4.
• Micro-cut shredders – These type of shredders are able to destroy documents in very small paper particles according to security level P-5 or higher.
• Compact sized shredders – Small and portable sized paper shredders that don’t require a lot of space and have a small footprint. These shredders are light and small so you can transport them easily.
• Paper shredding service – You can also hire a paper shredding company which can shred large volumes of documents for you.
• Cardboard shredder – When you want to shred cardboard sheets or boxes, it isn’t recommended to use a regular paper shredder. With a special cardboard shredder you can perforate or shred sheets of cardboard to reuse as packaging material.

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Step Up: Recycle, Reuse & Reduce

The three arrows of the recycling symbol represent the three main stages of the recycling process: recycling, reusing and reducing. Together the arrows form a closed loop. Step up and implement eco-friendly replacements in your daily life.

Join the movement! Step Up the waste hierarchy together to a goal of Zero Waste.

By Recycling.com/ 14 January 2020 Shares