Paper shredder lubricant

[Andrew Gabriel]

What's a good lubricant for paper shredder blades? Presumably something that won't cause the shreds to cling to them?

[Andy Burns]

You can buy "proper" shredder oil, I tend to spray a sheet with silicone oil aerosol, then shred that.

[Gordon Henderson]

I've used silicone oil spray too on an older/cheap shredder that I wasn't too woried about. It worked a real treat! Quietened it down a lot too. So now as soon as it starts to have a hint of being a bit slow, it gets another spraying.

(I turned the top upside down - put it in reverse, jammed a screwdriver in the slot with the microswitch that stops it running when not in the shredding basket and spray directly onto the blades...)

Gordon

[Bob Eager]

Paper shredder oil?

Only snag is the powdered paper them clumps, in my case jamming the paper sensor. Strip down and clean every 18 months or so.

[Invisible Man]

We only shred what really needs shredding. Eg. tear off the name address, reference etc and only shred that. Divided the work out shredder does by about 8.

[Huge]

YMYA.

[Jake]

A shredder mechanic once told me that the best way to oil was to spray WD40 thru the little red tube back and forth in the feed slot a few times whilst feeding a few sheets of paper. He said that spraying the paper before feeding didn't work as well as it would evaporate too quickly. As to frequency, he suggested every five times the bin was emptied (on the basis that the bigger the bin the stronger the shredder).

[Dr Hfuhruhurr]

I use the same oil as my hair clippers. Works for me.

[Bob Eager]

Most of what I shred isn't material like that...

[Dave Liquorice]

Check what the propellant is. I used some PTFE based dry lubricant on mine spraying in whilst running. One **BANG** and fractured case later I checked what the propellant was, can you guess?

[Terry Fields]

Not necessarily a good strategy.

Presumably you're shredding for privacy purposes, and your method means that a fair proportion of the shredded paper is of 'high value'

- that is, contained information on it you regard as sensitive. This would make it much easer to recover the shredded information.

One way round this is to also shred some other part of the document that has a similar font and background, and when emptying the basket, give everything a good mix.

Remember the US bug-out of Saigon? The Americans strip-shredded everything they could, and threw it into the street. The new regime simply collected it all, and spent months reassembling as much as they could.

A good way of getting rid of shredded paper is to compost it. The brindling worms love paper, and in our humble composter got through a shredderful in less than a week.

TF

[Count de Monet]

+1

[root]

Your strategy is probably a worthwhile idea for a celebrity, where the chances of scum sorting through your rubbish are higher than zero. However, I too only shred stuff that identifies me - mainly to cut down on the bulk of "shred" to be disposed of. Since I'm not even slightly important and if any government wanted any personal info, they'd have far more effective ways of getting it. I have no worries about people trying to piece together little bits of cross- shredded paper. All they'd get is names and addresses - some mine, some from other people. It's a good policy that's commensurate with the value of the information being disposed of.

[Invisible Man]

Similarly I have a cross cut shredder but nothing exciting or valuable to worry too much about.

[Gib Bogle]

Reading this thread I'm amazed how many people think they have paper that needs shredding. What sort of information is this that would otherwise entice spies to dig through the rubbish bin, I wonder?

[Andy Burns]

Err ... anything with name, address, account numbers (especially bank, utilities and council correspondence) or don't you have identity theft down there yet?

[Bob Eager]

I shred anything that might identify the bag as coming from my house. The council love to slap large fines on for all sorts of things. For example, someone round here put the bag out on the designated morning, the wind got up and blew it a couple of hundred yards onto a main road where it burst. They grovelled through, got her address and fined her.

[Mike Barnes]

Gib Bogle :

Identity thieves.

I have very little that qualifies and I'd be happy just to burn it. But SWMBO needs a good shredder for professional reasons, so I use that.

[Terry Fields]

They can't 'fine' her as they are not a court of law. They probably invited (sic) her to pay a voluntary penalty, which she did.

She could have refused, and the chances are that the matter would have been dropped.

"Can you tell the court what instructions the Council give about putting out rubbish bags?"

"Yes. Put the bag out by 7am on the morning of collection at the edge of the property nearest the road".

"And what instructions do you give for securing the bag from being blown away by a high wind?"

" er....er...."

Round here the bin men sometimes start before 7am, meaning bins have to be put out the night before. They'd never go to court on that basis.

TF

[Bob Eager]

They said she should have weighted it down....!

(it was then pointed out that bin men refuse to lift weights). Yes, I think she got away with it in the end, but I can do without the hassle.