You must have heard a proverb that, “One man’s trash another man’s treasure”. This is true for businessmen who are doing serious business and can’t afford risks. If your business involves a lot of documentation, then you need to make sure that those documents are disposed of properly. The most effective and economical way of destroying important documents is shredding them in a shredder. Now, with a wide assortment of paper shredders available on the market, you will have a tough time finding the best shredder, but you don’t have to take the botheration when I have already compiled a list of six best paper shredder consumer reports. Just go through the list and pick the shredder that suits your requirements.
Reviews Of 6 Best Paper Shredders
1. AmazonBasics 8-Sheet Cross-Cut Paper and Credit Card Home Office Shredder
Best Seller on Amazon, this paper shredder is capable of shredding a piece of paper into strips that measure 3/16 x 1-27/32 inches or the strips that can’t be used against you. The efficiency of this shredder is not confined to papers, but durable material like credit cards as well. The running time of this shredder is 3 minutes, so you can shred all you want in 180 seconds and then, the machine will cool down itself for 30 minutes.
This is a cross-cut shredder, which is ideal for shredding confidential documents. You can add 8 sheets of paper in this shredder at a time, plus the inclusion of 4.1-gallon capacity bin stores a lot of waste. There is an ‘auto mode’ in this shredder, which begins when the sensor detects something inserted in the shredder. It may not be the most advanced shredder, but it does the required job of shredding sheets perfectly.
2. Fellowes Powershred 79Ci 100% Jam Proof Medium, Duty Cross, Cut Shredder
Get this shredder if you have a lot of confidential documents to dispose of. This 79Ci Cross-Cut shredder can easily shred up to 16 sheets of paper at once into 397 cross-cut particles. Not just papers, but you can shred credit cards, CDs/DVDs, paper clips, staples, and junk mails as well. The machine incorporates a ‘Jam Proof System’, which ensures that no paper is jammed while being shredded. The unit is capable of carrying out tough jobs in an efficient manner.
The unit features a ‘SafeSense Technology’ in which an electronic safety sensor is placed near the entry of the paper, which disables the shredder when it senses a hand touching the paper opening. As far as the waste storage is concerned, then that is taken care of by a 6-gallon pull-out bin.
3. AmazonBasics 15-Sheet Cross-Cut Paper, CD Credit Card Office Shredder
Buy this shredder if you have some intensive shredding work to do. With a capacity of shredding 15 sheets per pass, you can quickly get rid of confidential documents, courtesy of this cross-cut shredder. Even the run time of the shredder is more than most shredders in the same price range, i.e., 20 minutes. After 20 minutes of uninterrupted operation, the unit takes 30 minutes to cool down.
The company has added extra protection for overloading and overheating, so the unit won’t experience paper-jam or any such issue. Besides documents, the shredder is apt in shredding CDs, DVDs, staples, credit cards, and small paper clips. The bin capacity of this shredder stands at 6 gallons, which allows you to shred a number of documents without worrying about emptying the bin.
4. Fellowes 62MC 10-Sheet Micro-Cut Shredder with Safety Lock for Added Protection (4685101)
If your aim is to get an efficient shredder in a compact size, then go for Fellowes Powershred 62MC. Despite being a compact unit, it doesn’t lack power at all, as it can smoothly shred 10 sheets of paper per pass. Moreover, the shredder sports micro-cut blades, so your documents will be converted into unreadable pieces. The confetti shredder comes with a safety lock feature that disables the shredder when the unit is not in use. The operation is fast, reliable and noise-free, thus making the shredder a perfect choice for office use. You don’t have to worry about emptying the trash frequently, courtesy of 5-gallon bin that the shredder comes with.
5. AmazonBasics 6-Sheet High-Security Micro-Cut Shredder
A sleek yet powerful shredder, AmazonBasics 6-Sheet Micro-Cut Shredder is all that you need in your office. The ability of this shredder to turn an A4 size paper into 2,235 pieces is simply phenomenal. Moreover, you can shred a number of things, from documents to credit/debit cards, paper clips to staples and CDs to DVDs.
The run time of the shredder is 3 minutes, so it will run for 3 minutes non-stop and then it will take 30 minutes to cool down. As far as the wastebasket is concerned, then it has a capacity of 4.1 gallons. The inclusion of thermal protection keeps the user safe if he/she brings his/her hand close to the shredder. The company offers a 1-year limited warranty on the product.
6. AmazonBasics 6-Sheet Cross-Cut Shredder
This is another incredible product by AmazonBasics, which shreds six sheets per pass. Being a cross-cut shredder, you can expect it to shred documents into bits that can’t be accessed by anyone, no matter what they do. The run time of the unit is two minutes and after that, it takes around 30 minutes to cool down the shredder. The run time is a bit less when compared to another shredder at the same price ranger.
The inclusion of thermal protection adds to the safety of users. The unit shuts off automatically when the shredder is not in use. The bin has a capacity of 3.8 gallon, which allows you to shred multiple documents without emptying the bin. If you have a small business, then this shredder is an ideal choice for you because it fits easily under a desk and does its job perfectly. The company offers a 1-year limited warranty on the product, so you can get the unit repaired or replaced in case something happens to it.
Things To Keep In Mind When Buying A Paper Shredder
In order to buy a paper shredder, you need to keep a few things in mind such as;
- Type Of Shredders
There are three types of shredders available on the market, those are;
- Strip-cut: ribbon-cut or spaghetti-cut.
- Cross-cut: diamond-cut or confetti-cut.
- Micro-cut: particle-cut or security-cut.
Where the first type of shredder is used for shredding non-confidential papers, second and third type of shredders are used for shredding confidential and highly confidential papers respectively. In strip-cut shredder, if you shred an A4 size paper, then you’ll get 39 strips of the paper. Whereas in cross-cut type shredder, an A4 size paper is shredded into 400 bits. Lastly, in the micro-cut shredder, you will see an A4 size paper being shredded into 3,700 particles.
- Sheet Capacity
The number of sheets that can be fed into the shredder defines the sheet capacity of the shredder. An entry-level shredder can easily shred 1-3 documents at once whereas an advanced and expensive shredder can easily shred up to 20 sheets of paper simultaneously. The sheet capacity of a manual feed paper shredder, which is commonly used in homes and offices ranges between 10 to 20 sheets of A4 size paper per pass. The sheet capacity of an auto feed shredder is a lot higher than manual feed shredder.
- Runtime & Cooldown Time
This is another factor that you need to keep in mind, as many people don’t pay attention to these while buying a shredder. Runtime and cool down together are called ‘duty-cycle’, and you need to check what’s the duty-cycle of your shredder is. A shredder can only work for a certain period because, then the motor heats up and you’ll have to cool it down.
- Overheat
The task of shredding documents generates heat in the unit, and if you keep shredding documents for a prolonged period, then the unit will overheat and shut down completely. Where household shredders shred documents for 5-10 minutes without any interruption, professional shredders, on the other hand, can run for 30 minutes or more. As far as the cool-down period is concerned, then it can take 30 minutes or so for a shredder to cool down and become available for the next shredding session.
- Bin Capacity
The majority of paper shredders are equipped with a storage drum or bin where all the paper particles are collected. You need to check the capacity of that storage drum or bin especially when you are shredding a whole lot of papers every day. A large capacity of storage drum or bin would save you a lot of your precious time because you don’t have to empty the bin frequently. To put it in simple terms if you are using a shredder on a daily basis, then you need a shredder with a large drum or bin.
- Type of Bin or Container
There can be two types of bins in a paper shredder, removable bin or bottom bin with lift off head. Basic shredders feature the latter one, which is installed on top of the waste bin. To empty the bin, take off the shredder. This type of bin is workable, but not convenient because you will be fed up removing the shredder every time to empty the bin.
All the advanced and large shredders feature a removable bucket or pull-out bin. All the paper particles are connected in the bin and you can open the bin’s door or pull-out the bin once it is full. This type of bin is more convenient to use.
- Shredding Speed
If you have a large pile of papers to shred, then you need to pay attention to the speed of the shredder. There is a formula for calculating the speed of the shredder, i.e., Sheet capacity x Speed x Run Time = Shredding Score.
Note: Speed of a shredder is calculated in FPM, which stands for Feet Per Minute
Wrap Up
If documents are of great importance to you and your business, then you can’t afford to let those documents get in the hands of someone who could use it against you. In that case, you need a paper shredder. I have already discussed reviews of six of the best paper shredders consumer reports, so you can go through the reviews and pick the shredder that you think would suit your needs. You will get the best shredder for home use as well as office use in the aforementioned list.