It’s spring cleaning time and I have boxes of papers that need shredding. The wimpy shredder from Office Depot just died, with one of those faux credit cards in its jaws.:mad:
Anyone have a model they would recommend?
I have something REALLY quick and effective for boxes of papers that need to be destroyed!
I call it a burn barrel :winkgrin:
No joke, if it’s close to a full box, I just burn them. Shredding that much sucks. I have a nice big Fellowes one here at the office and between frequent emptying and it getting too hot to continue, so not worth it.
Is there a commercial shredding business in your town? Some places have them that business use, don’t know if they take boxes from private use though. I agree, burn barrel is great if you city allows it. I have a cross cut shredder from Sams Club, supposed to take 18 pages but it barely does 4 pieces at a time, it’s slow and boring work.
Two notes of caution when using the home shredder:
- Oil the teeth occasionally, a nice 3-in-1 oil right in the teeth really helps. When I empty the shredder, I also pull paper packed in the sides and teeth out with needle nose pliers, and use a metal nail file between the sides, and teeth to gently get loose stuff out. It seems to make the shredder run much better, and last longer.
- Empty the shredder before it’s so packed it can’t shred any more (yes, I don’t watch when I shred a lot).
I looked online, and Office Depot and others have shredding services, but it’s cheaper to buy a couple of decent size home shredders, and do it yourself. To minimize what I shred, I go through the stuff I want to shred, and rip out things that need shredding (address labels, or account numbers, etc.), and trash the part that doesn’t have any identifying information. It helps to cut down on what I need to shred. I only do the little sample credit cards if they put a number or my name on it, so the generic ones can be trashed. I know it takes longer, but I only do a page or two at a time, since the home shredders never seem to be able to handle multiple pages the way they advertise they do.
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[QUOTE=js;8574788]
Is there a commercial shredding business in your town? Some places have them that business use, don’t know if they take boxes from private use though. I agree, burn barrel is great if you city allows it. I have a cross cut shredder from Sams Club, supposed to take 18 pages but it barely does 4 pieces at a time, it’s slow and boring work.[/QUOTE]
I had a commercial shredder come to my home and shred a bunch of boxes with financial-related stuff I no longer needed.
It was sweet to get rid of all that paper! 
I’ve got a Fellowes P-SSC that I got probably 5-8 yrs ago at BJ’s. It does a decent job of shredding CC slips and I just finished pulling my IRS statements from the mid 70’s to '89 and tearing off all the pages that my SS # on it and shredding those. I didn’t want it to get overheated and die so I shredded 1/2 of those and did the 2nd half a couple of hrs later.
The time you spend on shredding a bunch of papers is valuable as well re: shredder service.
Last year there were a number of free shredding events at various banks around the county. The commercial shredding truck would show up and you handed them the box of paper, they shredded right there and handed you back and empty box.
After much research we are going to order a Fellows shredder that is on Amazon. If I can find this thread in a few weeks I’ll update with a review.
I greatly appreciate all the thoughtful feedback
There is a wide range of shredders just visit Amazon you will get what you are looking for, But some best paper shredders are listed below whcich could be considerd:
AmazonBasics 12-Sheet
Swingline 14-sheet
Amazon 6-Sheet
HSM 150-sheet
Fellowes Powershred 99Ms
Royal 1840MX
Fellowes Powershred 79Ci
Royal 112MX Paper Shredder
Bonsaii DocShred 6-Sheet Micro-Cut Paper Shredder
you can find them all here
http://bestechub.com/best-paper-shredder/
Thank you for this list - appreciate !
Make sure you oil the teeth before using the first time, and then after every two or three batches of paper, so it doesn’t seize up. When the basket is full, I take the top off, remove paper from the teeth (I use a metal nail file, or needle nose pliers for this), and it keeps the shredder running longer (my model is a home one, with a plastic bottom, and the top is removable). If you have a bigger one, with the plastic bag under it to catch the shreds, then when you change the bag, then oil the teeth, and pull excess paper out of the teeth.
We purchased the Fellowes Powershred 79 CI and are very happy with it.
Our local credit union just had a “Shredding Saturday” where you could bring home documents and they would do the job with commercial equipment. Sometimes towns or community organizations or churches do the same thing. If it’s private they often ask for a donation which is OK by me.
I need a new shredder as mine does a very “inconsistent” job.
If you want real security you shred and then burn.
G.
post #15 reported
I’ve killed too many shredders. Killed em dead. I now have a few simpler methods. #1 - Get a large trash barrel, throw in no more than 1/2 of the barrel with paper, fill with water, stir occasionally, let sit for days. You will be left with a soggy mess of paper Mache to throw away. #2 - I have a large bin for manure that is hauled out weekly. Papers with #s on them are thrown in there and buried in the manure. #3 - The fireplace. Just don’t do too many at a time.
you are throwing away 2 ingredients for a no dig garden. The paper can be put down extremely thick to stop weeds. Cover with different layers of organic matter including manure, egg cartons, straw, natural unwanted clothing, etc. Finish with a layer of hay or straw thick enough to stop more weeds and plant plants in it.
This was an old thread bumped up by now-deleted spam, so we’re going to close it.
Thanks!
