General Chat

I have in the past used a manual shredder for small papers and receipts but as I have had an awful lot to shred over the last 2 years, im finding that the blades wear out very quickly.
Admittedly, the ones i have bought are only around £11-15 but even so they only last about 3-4 months.
I did once buy an electric shredder for around £25 but the A4 paper was always jamming and then you had to wait every 5 minutes for it to cool down and was very frustrating.

So does anyone on here use a shredder regularly manual or electric and how long does it last if you are shredding every week?

Your thoughts and suggestions please

Florence in the hebrides

We don’t use our shredder every week so I am no help there Florence.

What we do mostly is burn the paperwork in our chimnea (a fad of OH). It does warm those nearby but I would not barbecue on it like some do.

Do you have a non-gas or electric BBQ because you could use that instead of the shredder all the time? We had a beaut built by OH in the last house - and it came in handy.

We have a Rexel electric shredder which we bought when we moved here 8 years ago. We used to burn our papers at our old house but can’t do that here. Ours only does large amounts if we are clearing out a file but is in daily use for one or two bits of paper, envelopes etc. It will also chop CDs and credit cards. I can’t remember what it cost but we wouldn’t have paid silly money for it.

We have a ProAction one which we bought several years ago from Argos. I think it was about £20.

Like Vera we usually do small amounts but when we do have lots to do at once I find the best way to stop it from jamming is to fold A4 in half so that it isn't the full width of the slot and don't try and put too much in at once!

I have never tried to shred a CD or a plastic credit card - and it doesn't get hot!

We have the Rexel cross shredder which we have used in our business for a good few years. It chews up cd's and cards with no trouble. The poor thing really earns it's keep :-D

Thanks for your suggestions. i saw the Rexel about £40. Read the reviews and a mix of good and bad..usual story really but it looks ok and would speed up my shredding.

just when I think i have it all up to date, i find some old bills lurking in a box.

Not able to have a bonfire here and no BBQ either but no matter, i will get it up to date evntually.

Florence in the hebrides

Rip up pages into quarters and put in a bucket of water (with some bleach if you like) Leave for several days and stir well then pour liquid away and squish soggy paper together in a ball. If you don’t use bleach you can use it as a fire lighter when dried out or when still wet, put on a compost heap or bury in the ground. Lizxx

Grrrrr why is i when i get a new shredder it works ok for 1/2 hour then a piece gets jammed and i have to spend ages trying to unjam it!!!

My daughter has some dental tools and we had a spare one which is ideal to hook out any paper jammed in the teeth.(no pun intended lol) But oh my just a wee bit in the middle and still i cant clear it.
I restarted the shredder with smaller pieces on each side as it now wont feed through the middle. I am not going to take it apart as did that before and couldnt get it back together correctly.

Is it just me that has this problem?

Still 1/2 a carrier bag to go yet!

Florence in the hebrdes

Ours doesn't get jammed very often, but the last time it happened I cleared it easily by running it backwards. It has a three-way switch - forwards, reverse and off. Very useful.

Yes Andys mum, it has reverse and that cleared some just this bit in the blooming middle!

reversing doesn't always clear the jam it is just perseverance. I don't know why it happens Florence but it does. With me it is usually impatience on my part, either too many thicknesses of paper or not taking the time to make sue it foes in straight. It is probably because you have a large amount, you and it get tired!!

Our eloectric one is ancient but reliable.
It will take two thicknesses of 80gms paper but slows with three and is not goo with anything above that.
It has a three way switch like Andysmum's.
It will jam if you don't let it run on at the end of each item.
We leave in "on" to avoid that.

I def do lose my patience with it, having said that i am a very patient person in general.

Years of shredding in the office at school left me fuming many times when that would jam too!!! If it wasnt the shredder, it was usually the laminator. That could chew up most things that couldnt be spat out!

I havent used it for a few days but will have another bash over the weekend and take it canny.

Florence in the hebrides