It is becoming more apparent to everyone these days that shredding confidential documents is one of the best ways to prevent identity theft and protect sensitive business information.

The best shredders are micro cut shredders that can shred your papers into pieces of less than one third of an inch. Shredders can be used for home office as well as for commercial needs and many varieties of shredder are available catering for all uses.

Portable shredders are for very light jobs but can be easily stored away in a draw or cupboard when not in use. A home office would be best served by a small personal shredder which would allow for average small office shredding needs but most are still easily within budget for the small business owner whereas departmental shredding requirements are best servved by a heavy duty shredder.

There are several types of paper shredder - a straight cut shredder cuts papers into long strips, a cross cut shredder cuts across documents as well making it more secure and as the waste is more compact you need to empty the bin less frequently.  The most secure type of shredders are confetti shredders which produce very finely shredded waste which is impossible for anyone to piece together.

Portable shredders normally cut paper into long strips that you can pop straight in the bin. However we advise that with these shredders you split your shredded documents between different bins to be extra safe.

However if you want to be super shredder safe or if you run a business you should invest in one of the more advanced cross cut shredders that completely shred your documents.