Have you ever considered giving a paper shredder to someone as a gift? It may not be the first gift idea that comes to mind when shopping for your girlfriend or boyfriend, but paper shredders have become a popular gift idea for family members such as siblings or parents.

Other than cutting down on ID theft, here are a few other reasons your family member may want a paper shredder:

1. Your little brother can use a shredder to take out his frustrations on pictures of ants rather than frying them with a magnifying glass.
2. Your sister can shred pictures of her ex boyfriends after the “big breakup.” Very therapeutic from what I hear.
3. Your mother or father can use the shredder for making pasta. Seriously, people have done it. Read more here.
4. You can use it to strip cut paper as bedding for your pet hamster.

Although we do sell a lot of higher-end paper shredders designed for corporate or business use, we do have several models that are perfect for use at home. These shredders are compact, many no taller than a wastebasket, and can easily fit in a closet or next to a desk. Best of all, many of these home shredders are under $100.

You can find a list of our best paper shredder deals here. You can learn more about paper shredders by reading our paper shredder FAQ found here.

Let’s all be honest, identity theft is a growing problem. Criminals are becoming smarter and craftier at what they do. Chances are pretty good you know someone who has had their identity stolen. There are many aspects to identity theft. As an office equipment business, we focus on the paper end of identity theft. This involves the proper disposal of receipts, bills, bank statements, credit card applications and other paper material that can potentially be used in identity theft.

The best way to cut down on identity theft related to personal information on paper is to use a paper shredder. We recommend that paper shredders be placed in your house wherever you open your mail. This makes it more convenient to shred sensitive information versus throwing it away. Cross-cut shredders do the best job of shredding sensitive information. You can find our huge selection of paper shredders here.

If you own or run a business, there are a few paper shredder related laws that you should be aware of. Two such laws are HIPAA and FACTA. Both of these laws are federally mandated and apply to most businesses. I will go into a little detail on both of theses laws.

The HIPAA Act (Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act of 1996) enforces strict standards that protect patient health information. Part of this law requires that if patient data is no longer required or needed, it must be destroyed rather than thrown away. Paper shredders are probably the most common and convenient way of doing this. You can read more about HIPAA by going to the Website of the U.S. Department of Health & Human Services here.

FACTA (Fair and Accurate Credit Transactions Act) is a law designed to protect customer and employee information while cutting down on identity theft. A part of this law involves properly destroying personal information when it is no longer needed. This means employers cannot throw employee information in the garbage and consider it properly discarded. This new law applies to all employees, even if you have just one. One of the best means of destroying personal information is by using a paper shredder. You can read the entire contents of FACTA by going here.

Regardless of who you are or what you do, be sure to properly dispose of your personal and sensitive information. If you own or run a business, be sure to take the proper precautions to prevent issues with HIPAA or FACTA. You can learn more by reading our paper shredder guide found here.

Paper shredders can be tricky beasts and the quality ranges wildly from very low end toys to post-apocalyptic strength monsters that even Mad Max would be proud to use. Some paper shredders have plastic and nylon gears, where others have titanium-enhanced blades that can chew through staples, credit cards and CDs.

The shredder you use will depend entirely on what you need to use it for. As the Boy Scouts would say, “be prepared.” Don’t underestimate what your future needs may be and always get a shredder that can handle the job. If you purchase a cheap department store shredder, you may be cruisin’ for a bruisin’. In the shredder industry, you often get what you pay for.

Once you have purchased the “right” shredder, there are a few things you will want to do to keep it running correctly. The first thing you will want to do is purchase some shredder oil. Shredder oil keeps the moving blades from wearing out. Running a car without oil will eventually lead to a seized engine or a thrown rod. The same goes for shredders, especially those of the cross cut variety.

Change the bag when the shredder tells you to! Most modern shredders have a bag-full indicator. Luckily most shredders will turn off if the bag is too full. If your shredder does not have this capability, be sure you empty it before your shredder erupts like a confetti volcano. Too much paper in the bin will cause the blades to become constrained with packed paper particles. This isn’t good for the motor.

Much like you would with a high-end home theater system, I personally recommend putting your shredder on a surge protector. While most shredders feature built-in fuses, a surge protector will still help preserve electronics and extend its life. This isn’t terribly important for low-end kid’s meal shredders, but is ideal for higher-end office shredders.

Throw away those paper clips and don’t experiment with the shredder, it’s not a toy. Although many shredders claim they can handle paper clips and staples, it is still a very good idea to remove the paper clips. While staples don’t pose much of a threat, a thicker paper clip still has the potential of nicking and damaging the shredder blades. Don’t hold “what can it shred” contests either. You don’t want to get a sock or old 80’s mix tape jammed in the shredder.

If for any reason your shredder does break, you’re in luck. Here at ABC Office we have a fully trained and staffed service department. Not only can we service major brand shredders like Destroyit, Intimus, HSM, Kobra, Dahle, Formax and Fellowes, we can also service many brands we don’t have online. You can reach our service technician by calling 1-800-658-8788 or by filling out this form. May your shredder live long and prosper.

Destroyit paper shredders have some of the best reviews from our customers. These German-engineered shredders, made by IDEAL, can withstand a beating. Shredders range from small desk side shredders to industrial shredders capable of shredding hundreds of sheets of paper. These include strip cut an cross cut designs, ranging all the way up to security level 6.

You may be familiar with IDEAL as they also make popular paper cutters such as the Triumph line of stack paper cutters and the Kutrimmer line of arm paper cutters. These paper cutters are just as durable as the paper shredders.

The Destroyit 4002 is a particularly popular model with our customers for departmental and office shredding. It can shred up to 32 sheets at a time (strip cut) and 24 sheets at a time (cross cut). This can be used by several people and is ideal for use in a department. You can find the Destroyit 4002 here.

You can see our entire line of Destroyit paper shredders by going here.

I don’t usually blog about prices, especially since our prices are always pretty good anyway. We recently received some great pricing on Martin Yale paper shredders. Apparently the manufacturer, Martin Yale, got a little too much inventory in their warehouse and they are practically giving these things away.

Most of these shredders are over 50% to 60% off. I recently got a chance to use some of these paper shredders on our showroom floor. They aren’t bad. Martin Yale owns the Intimus line of paper shredders, and we all know how good those are.

Maybe this is a little off topic, but the Intimus 007 is probably one of the most popular paper shredders in history…and yes…it’s still around. The Intimus 007 paper shredder was used by Oliver North to shred documents related to the Iran-Contra scandal. After the model of shredder was revealed in 1987, sales of Intimus shredders went up 20%!

OK, back to the Martin Yale shredder sale. The prices are only good as long as the shredders are in “overstock” status. Once inventory levels fall back to normal, prices will go back to normal. You can find the heavily discounted Martin Yale shredders here. Happy shopping!

I have been working with paper shredders for years. As a result I can tell you that the general concept of the paper shredder, and the way they work, has remained pretty much the same for the past decade. Some work better than others.

Not only have I tried to stress the importance of using a paper shredder, for destroying sensitive information, but I have also been a big advocate for paper shredder safety. There are few things that make me cringe more than hearing about a dog getting its tongue stuck in a shredder or a toddler losing a few fingers as a result.

We have a pretty big showroom here at ABC Office, full of several different shredders from a wide variety of manufacturers. The types of models vary from strip cut to micro-cut particles. A while back we brought in a Fellowes Intellishred SB-99Ci for testing and display.

Fellowes paper shredders, for me, have never drawn my attention. I have always considered them to be best used at home or next to a desk. Fellowes must have recently hired some talented designers to work for them, because their current line of paper shredders looks modern and are aesthetically pleasing.

The Fellowes Intellishred SB-99Ci is a shining example of a “beautiful” paper shredder.  You can see several pictures of it by clicking here. It really does look nice. Upon turning the shredder on, a striking blue LED lights up. Again, this is much different than comparable models. A lighted gauge on the paper shredder (sheet capacity indicator) indicates the effect the load of paper is having on the motor, letting you know if you are pushing it too hard. It also features jam-proof technology, which makes it impossible to jam or seize the shredder head.

The thing that struck me the most was the SafeSense technology. If for any reason a finger or hand gets close to the shredder opening, the shredder will turn off. This is great for preventing possible injury. The sensor never failed.

If you are looking for a nice looking and safe paper shredder, I would recommend the Fellowes Intellishred SB-99Ci. Fellowes has several “Intellishred” models to choose from. You can find the SB-99Ci that I tried by clicking here. Enjoy!

I get a lot of questions from people asking me what the difference is between cross cut, diamond cut, particle cut and confetti cut paper shredders. The short and quick answer is that there is not really any difference between the various synonyms. The original and probably more correct terminology for paper cut in a criss-cross pattern is cross cut.

Cross cut is a generalized word that can be used to cover all the various shredding terms. Diamond cut paper shredders typically cut paper into very tiny diamond-shaped particles, but this is still referred to as a cross cut paper shredder. The same goes with confetti cut. Confetti cut shredders, which produce very skinny 1 to 2-inch long strips is also a type of cross cut shredder.

Cross cut is even spelled differently, depending on who you talk to. I have seen it spelled both cross cut and crosscut. Ultimately there really is no wrong answer, but you’ll probably confuse fewer people if you stick to using “cross cut” when referring to this type of shredder.

Cross cut shredders cut paper into various sizes and lengths. The different cut patterns are referred to as “security levels,” sometimes referred to as DIN 32757 (the official definitions). The higher the security level, the more secure your shredded information will be.

The highest security level currently available is security level 6, which is almost dust. This security level is used by the military and government for top secret shredding. While most people will not need shredder security level that high, I wouldn’t recommend going with anything under a security level 3 if you can help it.

You can see detailed specifications on all paper shredder security levels by going here: http://www.abcoffice.com/shredder_guide.htm#security

You have more than likely experienced a jammed shredder in your lifetime. It could be from accidentally shredding too much paper, or if you’re like me, you simply like to push your shredder to the limit. Who hasn’t grabbed 30 sheets of paper and tried to run it through a shredder? Although that’s probably not such a good idea, regardless of the shredder you’re using, there is now a new line of shredders that tout the title of being “Jam Free.”

GBC, the makers of Shredmaster, recently released a new line of “jam-free” paper shredders. These new shredders have sensors that detect when too much paper is being fed through. The shredders will let you know, by means of a red LED, that too much paper is being fed through the machine. Simply cut down the sheets being fed and your off to shredding paper again. There are no jams, no grinding noises and no visits to the repair shop.

One thing I really like about these shredders, other than the “jam-free” capabilities, is that they look nice. They are easy on the eyes and aesthetically pleasing. They will easily fit right in into any office or home.

A few of the models include the:

RSX128

RDX1413 RDS1819 & RDX1619

These shredders are available in strip cut and cross cut designs. We have a wide selection of paper shredders available, so stop by and look at the entire selection. Happy shredding!

Over the past week or two, you have probably received at least one or two credit card applications. If you’re like most people, you probably throw them in the garbage. If you’re concerned about the application being stolen, you may tear the envelope in half or quarters.

This may put your mind at rest, but some ambitious criminals don’t mind using a little Scotch tape to patch things up. Taped credit card applications are often accepted regardless. Although tearing a credit card application up isn’t a bad idea, weeding out most ID thieves, it is not fraud proof. This is certainly better than doing nothing.

Although dumpster diving is legal in most states, what they do with that information can make it illegal. The best failsafe to prevent dumpster divers is by using a good cross cut shredder. I keep a shredder in my own home office and shred anything that has personal information or applications.

Shredders are great at home or in the office. I recommend having one in both places. The price of a shredder is nothing in comparison to damaged credit or identity theft. You can see our entire line of paper shredders by going here.

Have you ever considered recycling your shredded paper? Although recycling shredded paper, as compared to non-shredded paper, is more complicated, it can be done. Many people also use their shredded paper as compost.

If you have properly destroyed sensitive information, you can take those shredded particles and recycle them. If you shred a lot of paper, or work for a large business, you may want to consider a shredder baler. Shredder balers shred dozens of sheets of paper at once, compact the particles and bale them. The bale looks much like a bale of hay you would see at a farm.

You can see an example of one of these industrial shredders by going here:

Baled paper is very dense. It is easy to transport with a cart or a hand truck. The baled paper can be stored in a warehouse or loaded on a truck where it can later be recycled. One bale of paper, usually about the size of a box, contains the equivalent of several bags worth of shredded paper.

Shredder baler combinations vary in size. Some can fit in an office environment, where others will fill a small warehouse. Shred services often use shredder balers in their trucks due to the limited space. Shredder balers vary in the amount of papers they can shred at any given time. Some high-volume shredder baler combinations can shred up to 400 sheets of paper at once.