The Most Important Paper Shredding Features For Your Office Shredder

Paper shredders should be considered an essential addition to any office. Although the world is conscious of the environment and working hard to reduce the use of paper, of which 26% produced ends up in landfills, there is a long way to go before we are truly paperless.

Unfortunately, every piece of paper in the office has personal information on it. That’s the sort of information that can help criminals undertake identity theft. This is something that is increasing and already costs victims nearly $500 million in financial losses.

Why Paper Shredders

A paper shredder can transform a piece of paper into small pieces making it difficult or even impossible to get any information from a form. You can invest in a paper shredder, keep it in the office, and quickly eliminate pieces of paper with personal details. However, it is important to note that not all shredders are created equal. You need to make sure your office shredder has the following features.

• Cross Shredding

A cheap home shredder makes multiple vertical cuts along with a piece of paper, destroying it. However, it is comparatively easy to put the paper back together again. In contrast, the latest security shredders offer cross shredding.

This is where the paper is cut vertically and horizontally. The paper is cut into very small pieces, making it virtually impossible to put it back together.

A shredder with cross shredding function is essential to ensure documents are securely disposed of.

• Other Items

Many of the bigger shredders can also handle paper clips and staples. It’s important to get one of these as time is money and you don’t want employees wasting time removing staples, etc. The easier it is to shred the greater the number of people that will do it.

• Continuous Motor

If you have a large amount of business shredding to take care of the last thing you want to do is only shred for ten minutes at a time. This is common on smaller shredders as they don’t have continuous motors and quickly overheat. A continuous motor will allow you to keep shredding for as long s you need to.

• Self-oiling

For paper to move through the shredder efficiently the blades need to be regularly oiled. This prevents them from overheating and becoming blunt. A self-oiling shredder is the best option as it does exactly what it says it does, leaving your shredder working perfectly, no matter how much you use it.

• Check paper Feed

It is also a good idea to look at how many pieces of paper you can fit in the shredder at one time. Again, if you have a lot of shredding to get through, being able to put several sheets in at the same time will make the job much easier and, therefore, more rewarding.

After Shredding

Don’t forget that shredding is only part of the equation. You need to make sure that any shredded paper is disposed of properly to prevent it from falling into the wrong hands.