Shredder Guide - Choose the right Shredder:

It's important to choose the right paper shredder for your home, office, school, warehouse or business. Shredders direct has put together a quick guide to help you with this price

The first Step:

The first step is deciding what you want to use the paper shredder for and how many people will be using it and the approximate volumes of paper they might shred. If it's for one person and the volumes are low a personal use or deskside shredder is likely adequate. If it's for multiple people who shred more often than it would be bigger shredder so office shredders upwards. Which category from here depends on how much paper is being shredded, the more users and more paper shredded the higher the category scaling from small office, large office, departmental or commercial for warehouse type of environments.

Shredder Wizzard:

To help you choose what type of machine would be most suitable for your requirement, we have listed the available Shredding Machines in certain categories. Please note that machines listed will be capable of shredding a much higher volume than those stated in our Daily Capacity sections and are not necessarily those as stated by the Manufacturers. All models will be able to cope with spikes in requirements or usage increases in the short term.

Determine Your Shredding Volume

Ask: How much paper will you shred, and how often?

Personal/Occasional Use (home, low volume): Light-duty shredders (up to 100 sheets/day).
Deskside Shredding: Low Volume/Individual Use (100-500 sheets/day).
Office/Low Volume Regular Use: Shredders (500- 1000 sheets/day).
Medium to Large Office: Regular Shredding / High Bursts of Use: (1000-1500 sheets/day).
Departments/Heavy Duty Use: High-capacity shredders (1500-2500+ sheets/day).
Commercial Shredding: These need high volume shredders (2,000+ sheets/day).
Warehouses: Check our Cardboard Shredders & Commercial Range.
Government Shredding: If you have NATA, SCEC, NSA requirements, see our Government Range.

Other Factors to Consider:

Security Level (DIN 66399 Standard)

Ask: How sensitive is the information you’re shredding?

P-1: Strip Cut - Fat Strips, Basic use (e.g. junk mail)
P-2: Strip-cut - Thin Strips (e.g. bills, personal papers).
P-3: Cross-cut - Confidential documents (e.g. client files).
P-4: Micro-cut - Highly sensitive (e.g. legal, financial, or personal data).
P-5: Class B - NATA, SCEC Endorsed, Classified Documents with Private or Secret Data.
P-6: Class A - NATA, SCEC Endorsed, Highly Classified Document with Secret Information.
P-7: NSA - Top Secret Classified Documents / Security Requirements.

Sheet Capacity and Speed

Ask: How much can it shred at once, and how fast?

Entry-level: 5–10 sheets per pass - Home/Personal/Deskside
Mid-range: 10–20 sheets per pass - Small to Medium Office
High-end: 20+ sheets per pass, continuous duty cycles - Large Office/Departments
High-volume: 30+ sheets per pass - Quicker Shredding for Large Office/Departments
Auto-feed: if you regularly shred large volumes and don't want to feed paper in by hand!

Run Time & Cool Down Time

Ask: How long you or your staff are likely to shred in one go.

Short run time (2–5 min) = Suitable for light users.
Long run time (20+ min) = Better for offices or bulk shredding.
Continuous duty = Best Option for variable Shredding Amounts.

Additional Criteria / Features to Consider:

Ask: What's important to you and the team:

Bin Size: The larger the Bins the less trips to empty them.
Noise Level: Quieter machines = less distractions at home or the office.
Speed & Feel: The better quality the machine the better the speed and feel.
Jam prevention or auto-reverse: Avoids and reverses paper jams reducing frustration.
Credit card/CD/DVD shredding: If needed or good to have.

Call now for expert help and advice on choosing the right shredding machine for you 1300 300 596