More and more businesses and individuals are choosing to have paper shredders to protect themselves from identity theft and other crimes. Companies have improved not only security but also ease of use and safety. When choosing a shredder, it helps to understand what shredders do, what options are available, and what the different types offer.
Step 1
Consider how finely you want to shred the paper. Typical options are strip-cut, confetti-cut, and micro-cut. The size of pieces is probably the most important factor in determining what shredder to buy.
* Strip-cut paper shredder cut documents into thin strips, about 40-50 strips for a letter-sized page. This was the original style of shredder and offers the lowest level of security. It is, however, still a big step above just tearing something up and throwing it in the trash. They are typically less expensive than other types of shredders. Strip-cut shredders are a good choice for people and companies who want to dispose of documents but do not need a very high level of security.
* Confetti-cut paper shredders, also known as cross-cut, are the most popular type of paper shredder and offer a much higher level of security than the strip-cut variety. A standard letter size paper is cut into approximately 300-400 small square pieces. This makes it very hard for someone to be able to retrieve sensitive information from the documents. This type of shredding can be useful if you have documents with sensitive information such as bank account numbers and credit card numbers. While some computer programs can be used to piece together documents that have been shredded into strips, it is next to impossible to be able to decipher anything that has been shredded into the smaller confetti sized pieces. Confetti-cut paper shredders work well for people and companies who require a high level of security.
* Micro-cut shredders offer the highest level security available. They can shred a letter size paper into approximately 1600-3000 tiny pieces. It is impossible to retrieve information from a document that has been fed through a micro-cut shredder, which is one of the reasons they are so popular with government agencies and large corporations. They work best for people or companies who have a high risk of someone trying to steal classified or secret information from them. Because they shred documents into such small pieces, you won't have to change the bags as often as with other Crosscut Paper Shredder.
