Which Shredder is Best for Home Use?

 

By all accounts, it appears that the home working trend is here to stay, and as more of us work from home, offices are becoming better equipped than ever before to meet the challenge of this new approach.

With this in mind it is important to ensure we have everything we need to operate productively, comfortably and securely.

 

Manual paper shredders have a long history of domestic use. But it’s when you have sensitive work-related documents that need disposing of that they come into their own.

 

So what makes a great shredder for your home? Let’s start by looking at why it’s a good idea to have a shredder in the home office. Then we’ll look at the main features to look out for when choosing a home office shredder.

 

1.  Why do I need a shredder for my home?

Manual paper shredders have been providing protection for years - allowing homes to destroy personal or sensitive information securely. Equally are also a useful way to keep on top of what we don’t want to keep.

 

Back in the pre-digital days when all documentation was in paper form and the average household got a lot more mail than today, they became increasingly useful. There is no arguing the fact that, you can fit a lot more shredded material into a paper bin than you can whole sheets!

 

While there is more online communication today, old bills, bank statements, tax documents and other personal paperwork should still remain private. Simply throwing them into the bin is risky because someone could use the details they contain to steal your identity.

 

These security concerns multiply if you handle business documentation while you work from home. You might, for example, work in HR or accounts and need copies of payroll or invoice paperwork with you. What do you do with them when you are finished?

 

Aside from the risks of misplacing sensitive financial information, you could land your employer in trouble if protected personal data is not handled safely under the terms of the GDPR regulations. The best way to avoid a potential data breach when disposing of physical documents is to shred them so no one can read the information they contain.

 

2.  What should I look for when buying a paper shredder?

Secure document disposal is equally important whether you are at home or at work. But your shredding needs are likely to be different at home - for example, the volume of paper you have to shred is likely to be considerably less.

 

Let’s take a look at the key features when looking for a paper shredder perfect for home use.

Manual Paper Shredders

Paper shredders come with two feed types, auto and manual. Auto feed means you can place a large pile of papers in the feed tray and leave it to do its thing. With manual feed, you have to insert the paper by hand, usually anywhere between five and 20 sheets at a time.

 

Auto feed shredders are designed for high volume requirements, typically in offices where lots of people are wanting to shred big piles of papers at once.

As you will probably only need to shred several documents at once in your home office at once, a manual paper shredder should be fine. The big benefits of manual feed models like the Leitz IQ Home Office shredder are that they cost less and take up less space than larger heavy-duty models. However, there are also smaller auto feed models available if you want to enjoy the benefit of fully automatic shredding at home.

Compact shredders

Speaking of size, lots of people are having to make do the best they can, squeezing their home office into any spare corner of the home they can find - a box bedroom, a corner of the spare room, perhaps even repurposing space under the stairs or under the eaves of an attic room.

For many home workers, space is therefore at a premium.

To solve this issue and optimise space in home offices, the Leitz IQ Slim Home Office paper shredder, provides the same high-quality functionality as the IQ Home Office, just with a more compact design. Perfect for slotting under desks!

 

Cut type and security

How useful a paper shredder is from a security point of view depends on the cut type. At one time, most shredders marketed for home use offered what is known as straight, strip or ‘ribbon’ cut, which slices a piece of paper in one direction (lengthways) into about 40 pieces.

 

Strip cut models can provide basic protection, however both Leitz IQ Home Office paper shredder models use what is known as cross cut, slicing documents in two directions and therefore into many more, smaller pieces. They are equipped with a P4 security rating to give office workers increased peace of mind that documents stay confidential and to help assist in GDPR compliance.

To learn more about paper shredders for home browse the Leitz IQ range today.