A good paper shredder is a vital tool in any office as it destroys sensitive files. We have found the best cross-cut and micro-cut paper shredders for businesses based on price, features, reliability, and customer satisfaction. Continue reading for our recommendations of this very best paper shredder for personal, small office, and big office usage.
Greatest Cross-Cut Paper Shredders
|
|
|
|
---|---|---|---|
Merchandise | AmazonBasics 6-Sheet Cross-Cut Paper Shredder | Fellowes Powershred 60Cs 10-Sheet Paper Shredder | Royal 1840MX 18-Sheet Cross-Cut Paper Shredder |
Finest For | Personal use | Small office use | Larger office usage |
Amazon Customer Rating | 4.3 from 8,219 testimonials | 4.2 out of 347 reviews | 4.5 from 273 reviews |
Maximum Capacity | 6 sheets | 10 sheets | 18 sheets |
Constant Run Time | 2 minutes | 6 minutes | 40 minutes |
Paper each Session | 50 sheets | 250 sheets | 3,000 sheets |
Cut Size | 5.5mm x 47mm | 4mm x 51mm | 4mm x 29mm |
Also Shreds | Credit cards | Charge cards | Credit cards and CDs/DVDs |
Guarantee | 1 year | 1 year | 1 year |
Our three recommended cross-cut paper shredders offer a balance between security, practicality, and cost. Unlike strip-cut shredders (see below), which only shred your files into vertical strips, cross-cut shredders add horizontal cuts each 1-2 inches. This leaves them more secure and better-suited for shredding sensitive documents like bank statements or paystubs.
Other important factors to consider when Picking a paper shredder include:
- Ability — A newspaper shredder’s capacity refers to the number of sheets of paper it could shred simultaneously. However, for optimum performance on larger continuous tasks, you should only feed roughly 70-80% of a shredder’s promoted capacity at once.
- Continuous Run Time — The motor in a newspaper shredder will tend to run hot, so it requires time to cool down after a continuous job. A paper shredder’s working time is how long it can run for before it needs a break. The longer the working time, the bigger the job you can finish at once.
- Paper per Session — This identifies the approximate number of bits of paper that you can shred during a session of this shredder’s runtime.
- Cut Size — The bigger the cut dimensions, the more protected the shred. For the most security, we recommend micro-cut shredders (see below).
- Reliability — How does the machine hold in the long-term and/or are there any design flaws that affect usability? Fortunately you can pass on this question because we only picked machines with the best reviews and few-to-zero complaints of components breaking.
Best Micro-Cut Paper Shredders
|
|
|
|
---|---|---|---|
Merchandise | AmazonBasics 6-Sheet High Security Micro-Cut Paper Shredder | AmazonBasics 12-Sheet High Security Micro-Cut Paper Shredder | Bonsaii EverShred 12-Sheet Micro-Cut Paper Shredder |
Best For | Personal use | Little office usage | Bigger office use |
Amazon Customer Rating | 4.4 by 1,646 reviews | 4.6 out of 3,233 testimonials | 4.5 by 882 reviews |
Maximum Capacity | 6 sheets | 12 sheets | 12 sheets |
Continuous Run Time | 2 minutes | 8 minutes | 60 minutes |
Paper each Session | 25 sheets | 200 sheets | 2,500 sheets |
Cut Size | 4mm x 12mm | 4mm x 12mm | 4mm x 10mm |
Additionally Shreds | Charge cards | Credit cards and CDs/DVDs | Charge Cards and CDs/DVDs |
Warranty | 1 year | 1 year | 1 year |
If your business manages a whole lot of sensitive paper documents, like a legal or medical company, then micro-cut shredders will deliver the most protection. By shredding paper to 4mm x 12mm confetti-like strips, these machines cut a standard-sized piece of paper into over 2,000 tiny pieces compared to about 360 bits out of a cross-cut shredder.
The downside to the extra security, however, is that micro-cut paper shredders have a tendency to be more expensive than nearest ones and they generally run more slowly because more reductions are being created. If you don’t require the excess security, then a cross-cut paper shredder will probably be more than enough for most uses.
The Most Important Thing
Although strip-cut shredders are what most men and women think of what it comes to paper shredding, these machines aren’t typically utilized in offices. Since they cut paper to long vertical strips, it is still possible (albeit difficult) to identify sensitive information like bank account or social security numbers.
Rather, cross-cut paper shredders will be the minimum for the majority of companies and micro-cut paper shredders are more suitable for businesses that handle particularly sensitive documents.