We all know that paper shredders have to be used for preventing identity thefts and upholding security. However, these machines come in many categories based on their power and capacity, and how do we know which one best suits our needs? There are a few questions that you have to consider before you decide the most ideal one to buy. For instance, you have to find out the number of people who will be using the shredder daily, the amount of paper it has to handle in a day, the size of the papers, as well as the kind of security that you are looking for.
After you have in mind what are the features that you require, you should start looking into the various types of paper shredders. The smaller kind of shredder is the home paper shredder. For those who have to shred personal documents such as bank statements, junk mail, credit card bills or other sensitive information, it is recommended that you get a personal home shredder. This machine is specially designed for light use that caters to the use of one or two people, shredding an average of 5 sheets of paper at a time. They are available in strip cut and cross cut models too. Strip cut machine shreds paper into long ribbon-like strips, while the cross cut model shreds fewer sheets at a slower rate, offering more security.
Office paper shredders are similar to home paper shredders, but they can cater to several more users and can accept 10 to 35 sheets at a time. The throat size of such machines has more variations too. They come in sizes ranging from 9 to 15 inches so as to handle the different paper sizes.
The next level of paper shredders are known as the commercial paper shredders. They are classified under the heavy duty paper shredder as they are designed to shred up to 80 sheets of papers at a time. With this machine, any paper of up to 16 inches or above can be shredded because of the large throat size. In addition, besides paper, other materials such as CDs, credit cards, staples or paper clips can be accepted by the commercial shredder. Like the home and office shredders, this commercial one comes in both strip cut and cross cut models too.
The last commonly found shredder in the market will be the industrial paper shredders. It is the most heavy duty machine that is manufactured to meet the shredding needs of several departments in a large corporation. Industrial shredders are designed for maximum performance, which can shred up to 140 sheets of papers at a time as well as operating for longer period each time. Throats sizes are also wider compared to all the above shredders and they come in strip cut or cross cut models too. Such machines are most appropriate for industrial companies that have a large amount of papers or other materials to shred daily.
It is important that you get the right type of machine that can fit your requirements. If you get machines that are meant for light duty, but you apply heavy usage on it, jams and machine breakdowns will occur. On the other hand, it is also unwise to get heavy duty paper shredders for home or small office use.