One of the most effective machines especially for paper junk is a paper shredder. Also, the best paper shredder should be useful in both corporate and home environments. Thankfully, we’ve put through several paper shredders and come up with the below top five paper shredders in the market.
Our Top Picks-5 Best Paper Shredders
1) Amazon Basics 8 Sheet Shredder
- Cross cut shredder turns paper into small pieces (0.2 x 1.9...
- Shreds up to 8 sheets of 20-pound bond paper at a time, including...
- Destroys credit cards one at a time, through the dedicated slot
- 4 mode control switch (auto/on, off, reverse, forward) and LED...
- 3 minute runtime; 30 minute cool down; if runs beyond max run...
From a small office perspective, this paper shredder devor papers like no-other from a pile of documents. Fully compatible with this function, it can hold up to eight sheets of paper at a time. The powerful paper shredder which was presented in the office was a real pleasant surprise for all people. Also, it is quite affordable considering that we would recommend it for any small office.
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Of course, paper shredding will stress to the average paper shredder in such a way that it will overheat. But, as for this shredder, we can shred papers for the entire day and the said security option isn’t triggered to shut down the system. We have noticed that when the shredder is full with more than 8 sheets of paper it is a little hard but anyways everybody just makes sure that it is between 6 and 8 sheets at most. As long as we do not feed the shredder with too many papers at once it functions extremely well.
The bin is rather compact; thus, it is necessary to clear it one to two times a day because of paper clogs. Additionally, based on the volume of work, it is possible to discharge it up to three times. Oiling the blades helps the shredder to be in good condition all the time, thus, there is rotation in oiling the shredder.
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2) Amazon Basics 6- Sheet Micro-Cut Shredder
- Micro-cut shredder turns paper into tiny confetti-like pieces...
- Shreds up to 6 sheets of 20-pound bond paper at a time; also...
- 3 minutes on / 30 minutes off; if shredder runs continuously...
- 3-mode power switch (auto, off, reverse); auto start and overload...
- Quality tested: as part of Amazon Basics quality inspections, we...
If you are looking for a paper shredder, which does not require you to remove staples or small paper clips from the documents before feeding them into the shredder you should consider the Amazon Basics 6 Sheet Micro-cut shredder. They also needed to make it very easy to use, and they did so through the design: we were impressed at its capability of tearing through up to 6 sheets of paper with both staples and small paper clamps.
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This machine weighs 9.7 pounds and could fit any small office space. It also had an auto-start which feed the papers into the feeder and a reverse function if papers got stuck inside. It also had an auto-off thermal protection for the feeder so that if the feeder was full the motor could not be overworked.
However, it took 3-minutes to shred and after that, it needs a cool-down time of 30 minutes.
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3) Aurora AU820MA Micro-Cut Shredder
- 8 sheet micro-cut; 4.8 gallon regular wastebasket
- "ShredSafe" advanced safety feature: Auto power-off upon forced...
- Allows continuous shredding for up to 5 minutes. LED "Power /...
- Shreds CDs/ DVDs, Credit cards; Small paper clips ; Staples
- Auto start / stop. Overload / Overheat protection. Security Level...
If you prefer a mini shredder, then Best buy aurora au820ma micro-cut shredder is right for you. It could be emptied by pulling up a lid which exposed a sufficient space for the shreds. But it created a lot more dust than usual, and so turning it into was a particularly tedious task. Nevertheless, it had a 4.8-gallon bin which provided space for more shreds.
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The other drawback was noisy which rather increased during the shredding process of the papers and other documents.
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4) Fellowes Powershred 99Ms Micro-Cut Paper Shredder
- Shreds 14 sheets per pass into 5/64”x 9/16” micro-cut...
- Shreds for up to 20 minutes before a 40 minute cool down period...
- Auto Reverse stops and reverses paper if a jam occurs. When the...
- Safe Sense Technology stops shredder when hands touch the paper...
- Bin Capacity 9 gallon pull-out bin holds over 80% more Micro-Cut...
The Fellowes Powershred 99Ms offers security and privacy to anyone who has documents that need to be shredded. It reduces documents into small and barely recognizable pieces. It had a p-5 security level because it allowed us to securely eliminate sensitive documents, records of the clients, and balance sheets and profit and loss statements.
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The power shred 99Ms could shred 14 pages in one pass and it has a jumbo 9-gallon pull-out basket. Also, included is a safe sense technology; a safety that allowed the shredder to power off as soon as it detected a hand within the opening. It also has an inactivity mode where the unit will turn off after 2minutes of nonoperation.
It takes 20 minutes for the model to run and it automatically cools down in 40 minutes. This was not a weakness because it was more than capable, again most likely due to the drafting of information.
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5) Bonsaii 10-Sheet Cross Cut Paper Shredder
- 【Home Office Paper Shredder】With 10 sheets of shredding...
- 【Easy Operation & Safe Protection】Paper shredders for home...
- 【Large Gallon Basket】5.5 gallons large wastebasket capacity,...
- 【Shredders for Home Use Heavy Duty】5-minute continuous...
- 【1-Year Warranty】Bonsaii shredders for home office provides...
This is a great machine that hugs a powerful paper shredder’s functionality of the highest caliber. On the level of security, this paper shredder stands at 5x18mm; therefore, the shredded papers resemble confetti in some cases unlike the conventional shredders we have used in the office. Of course, in our case, it is perfect when we have documents that needed to be shredded that we had digital copies of in the first place.
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It appears to be popular with everyone in the office and, as far as I can tell, everybody uses it in turn because it is very light. One time it became clear that this is a very effective shredder that can tear documents to pieces in just a few seconds. Although it meant the machine keeps running for a very long time, we capped the number of sheets that can fit in at once to 3. Any way, it claims that the sheet capacity is 10 but I begin to notice it slowing down at 4 sheets.
Though the unit is perfect to have in the office and does work brilliantly as one, it could also serve as one of those individual shred items, which the people use to shred their junk mails with. The shredded paper is then placed in a large which is a 5-gallon and one does not have to dispose it often.
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Types Of Paper Shredders
Paper shredders come in handy whenever you have printed pieces of information, which are confidential or you just do not want them in office again. There are different types of paper shredders in the market for example; strip cut shredders, cross cut shredders, and micro cut shredders. Depending on your output size preference, you can opt for any of it.
A) Strip Cut Shredders
These are the simplest paper shredders because they slice the paper vertically so that you can easily reconstruct the paper. In the areas where a large number of paper-based items have to be processed, they can be used.
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Despite this, they are useful in shredding of sensitive material because they take a short time and are easy to use. Carrier devices are also cheap and do not need frequent maintenance thus may be suitable for the personal office applications.
B) Cross Cut Shredders
A cross-cut shredder is preferred because it provides moderate security at an affordable cost. These shredders work in both vertical and horizontal directions and cannot be reassembled in any way.
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They are classified as medium security, making them the best for business and home offices when you need to conceal information. Also, they are faster than micro cut shredders and slower than strip cut shredders. They do not need much attention to be paid to them in order to keep them operational.
C) Micro Cut Shredders
A micro-cut shredder can reduce documents to the finest particles that you can imagine. It provides as enhanced form of security since the paper is shredded in a way such it cannot be put back together.
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They are the best when it comes to slicing high profile, sensitive data such as personal, medical records, contracts, or government content. Yet, they are slow when shredding documents and are relatively costly.
Factors To Consider When Choosing The Best Paper Shredders
While purchasing the best paper shredders in the market, you should look for the following.
1. Size
In selecting the paper shredder, you should consider where the paper shredder will be located, and how it will be pulled or moved from place to another for usage or for disposal. The bin strip of a paper shredder is likely to fill faster since the paper bends and folds. However, shredders that reduce the paper to fine strips will call for bins of a similar paper size.
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Choose a compact shredder because they often come with small trash bins which should easily fit under any desk. Nevertheless, if you are to get hold of a small paper shredder then be prepared to constantly dispose the bin. Ideally, you should consider large paper shredders and especially if you have enough space on where you will place them.
2. Page Capacity
Select a paper shredder for which several paper can pass at a time. Suppose you try to feed a lot of documents into a shredding device that can handle only few papers; the machine is most likely to jam. As we have seen there is a variation in the capacity of the paper shredders ranging from 1 to 100.
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The higher the number of pages a paper shredder pulls, the more benefit it will be to you. Any paper shredder capable of tearing ten pages and beyond is always an automatic paper shredder because it allows papers to flow through the slicer blades and shred all of them. The mentioned feature means that there is an element of on-going operation because you can feed the documents while you do other activities.
3. Runtime
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All paper shredders have a runtime that allows it to work before getting hot. Choose a model that lasts longer on a single charge, this is because the shredder will be more productive within continuous use. If a shredder has a low run time, it means that it will not be efficient for areas that require the Shredder to be used frequently.
The right paper shredder for home office usage should be the one that can run for five minutes. Some of the highcapacity paper shredders are those which operate for a period of one hour or more, but which take a comparatively long time before the operator can use them again.
4. Security Level
The security level of a paper shredder is defined by the fineness of the strips it produces or in other words by the particle size. There are three types of paper shredders with different levels of security: the strip cut, which is relatively safe; the cross-cut, which provides a medium measure of safety; and the micro-cut, which is virtually ‘bulletproof.’
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The levels of security depend on what you need to conceal, so you can get the one that has the cuts necessary for it. If you ever mistakenly shred some documents, you can read some articles that touch on procedures to follow when you want to reconstruct shredded documents.
5. Safety Features
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A paper shredder can be a rather easy machine to use because there are many that are self operating. But there is a reason why manufacturers incorporate paper shredder precautions ranging from jam protection or automatic shutoff to protect the users.
A paper shredder for example has an auto shut off mechanism where the device turns off when a hand is placed on the feeder slot or when it overloads. The shredder stays off after this until the motor has come down in temperature or whenever the motor does not detect hand close to the feeder slot.
Due to the setting of paper shredders to work at an always given particular number of papers at any one time, the feed can jam if you feed it with thick paper or more papers than it can take at any one time. It also tends to clog if small staples and other besides remain on the documents that are being scanned.
The jam protection feature prevents the intake of more or of materials that are unnecessary and turns around the paper.
6. Extra Features
It can be quite a challenge to find paper shredders with additional attachments; however there are those which are equipped with trays, wheels and locks and letter openers.
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Depending on whether you will be moving the shredder from one office to the other you may want one with wheels. You may also need one with a pull-out waste bin or a carrying handle. On the other hand, if you or your family is very much at home with kids and pet playing around you may require one with an automatic shut off.
Frequently Asked Questions On The Best Paper Shredders
1. What is the strongest paper shredder?
The strongest paper shredder is the Amazon basics 15-sheet cross-cut shredder.
2. Can Paper Shredders Shred Paper Clips And Staples?
It is important to note that not all paper shredders are compatible with paper clips and staples, so you should check with the manufacturer’s instructions first, before placing them into the shreds.
3. How do I choose a paper shredder for my home?
There are many things to go through before choosing a paper shredder. Some of them are:
- Cut type
- Security levels
- Advanced Features
- Shredder speed
- Noise level
Load size
4. Are There Any Rules To Follow When Using Paper Shredders?
Most manufacturers describe how to use paper shredders in the instruction manual, but here are essential rules on handling any paper shredder.
The paper shredder blades should be cleaned always using the paper shredder oil to avoid jamming, overheating or breaking down.
Avoid overloading the shredder because every unit has the page number that it can handle. When you go beyond it, the implication is that you are straining the motor and the entire machine gets heated up.
It is important not to push the paper through the shredders a rate that exceeds the capacity of the motors as this will only lead to over heating of the motors thereby reducing the lifespan of the machine.
