Protect yourself from Identity theft with a Shredder.

By Choosing the Right Shredder

With identity theft and the security of personal and business information

becoming increasing points of concern, paper shredders have become an

essential item in any office or home. Any sensitive document that contains

information like a Social Security number, birth date and credit card

information should be shredded. If you don't already own a shredder, you

will find them available in everything from personal sizes for the

occasional home user to big, industrial sizes for offices. The following

article explains the main differences between the two most popular types of

paper shredders available.

Cross Cut Shredders

Also known as “confetti” shredders cross cut shredders offer maximum

security, there is little chance that an enterprising thief can piece the

papers back together again. Cross-cut shredders provide more security by

cutting paper vertically and horizontally into confetti-like pieces. They

use two contra-rotating drums to cut rectangular or parallelogram-shaped

shreds. Probably the most well-known paper shredder manufacturer is Acco Rexel.

Acco Brands products are marketed in over 100 countries across the globe.

They are the largest suppliers of paper shredders in the U.K.

Paper shredders are divided into three categories: heavy use, for 10 or

more users; medium use, for 6 to 10 users; and light use, for 1 to 6 users.

Acco Rexel also offers machine models designed for use in homes or home

offices. Heavy-use shredders can shred from 7 to 38 sheets at a time. All

of its shredder models are able to handle a variety of items, such as

credit cards, paper clips, and staples. If you think you will need this

functionality, be sure to choose a shredder that is capable of destroying

these objects. An advantage of cross cut shredders is that shredded paper compresses

better so the basket holds more cut paper, however they may require more

maintenance and generally cost more.

Strip Cut Shredders

Strip cut shredders shred documents into long narrow pieces of paper.

Although these types of shredders perform the basic job, they are not as

secure as cross cut shredders because it may still be possible to

reconstruct the shredded documents. Strip-cut shredders generally can

handle a higher volume of paper with lower maintenance than that of cross

cut shredders. But the strips don't compress as well as crosscut shreds ,so

you'll need a larger basket (or more frequent emptying)

Shredders can cost anywhere from about $40 to over $10000. Before choosing

one, keep in mind that each shredder can only handle so many sheets in a

session, ranging from approximately 80 to 920 sheets. Shredding sessions

vary from two to 10 minutes, so if you have a large number of documents to

shred, you may need to complete your work over the course of a day. Most

shredders require a cool-down period, ranging from 4 to 30 minutes; if you

need a frequent-use shredder, be sure to check for that specification.

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