Paper Shredders

Until a few years ago paper shredders were found only in government offices. Eventually they found there way into businesses and now they are a common fixture in most home offices.

Paper shredders will help keep your financial records secure in this age of rampant identity theft.

Paper shredders are not new. The original device was invented in 1909 in New York. Although a patent was obtained for the device, it was never manufactured. It wasn't until 1935 when these machines were designed on the style of a pasta maker that they became used more frequently.

It wasn't until the mid 80's that the presence of paper shredders became common in non-governmental offices. Shortly after the Supreme Court ruling in California that allowed search and seizure of personal documents that may be found in trash cans outside the home, did they become a valuable part of citizens who wanted to maintain some privacy concerning their financial records.

In the United States, it is estimated that there are up to 9 million incidences of identity theft each year. They recommend that citizens defend and protect their identity by shredding any financial documents before disposing of them. This includes bank statements, tax records and anything else that may have an account number or social security number connected to it. Probably the most common in small offices or home offices are Fellowes paper shredders.

With the aid of the media and it's frequent accounts of identity theft the people of the United States are becoming more aware of the dangers. Medical records, government documents and any papers that contain personal information are shredded.

Today, there are many businesses that employ the use of commercial paper shredders. Often these paper shredders arrive on trucks and documents are shredded on the site. It will give the businesses peace of mind to know that the confidential records or financial records have been adequately destroyed either by office paper shredders or paper shredding companies.

Paper shredders come in many different categories. They range from scissors with multi-cut blades to large trucks and most sizes in between. Most are electric. Sites have also been developed to which customers can take their documents and avail themselves of the paper shredders.

There are also different cuts that can be used in paper cutters.

• The one that is least secure is the strip cut paper shredder. It is comprised of rotating knives that cut the paper into strips. The chads' created by these shredders have the largest volume of waste and can be put together with patience and diligence.

• Confetti-cut, which are also called cross-cut shredder puts two rotating drums to work to cut the diamond shaped chads that appear.

• Tiny squares and/or circles can be produced by the particle cut paper shredders.

Grinders, pounders and other extreme machines are used in more sensitive areas.

The evolution of the shredder trucks has been quite remarkable. Some of these heavy duty shredder trucks can shred 3,600kg (8000pounds) per hour. They can store twice that. While office paper is the primary material being shredded, people are now asking for credit cards, CD's, hard drives and uniforms to be shredded as well this is due to security concerns of the general public. For extra security, businesses will opt for a more sophisticated and powerful machine such as those made by Destroyit® or Intimus. 

It is possible to reassemble a shredded document piece by piece. This is especially true of strip cutters. If the paper shredders do not cut the documents small enough, there are those who are more than willing to put them together for criminal purposes. Micro-cut shredders make things a bit more difficult for reassembling documents. These machines shred the documents into roughly 4000 pieces opposed to the 300 of a cross-cut or thirty four in strip cutters.

Care should be used with home paper shredders. The blades are sharp and the sound can be attractive to pets and children. Safety with this machine should be the same as with any other. When it is not in use, it is best to have it unplugged so a child cannot put a piece of paper or their clothing in through the very sharp blades. Caution is a must with these as well as any appliance or office machine.