What's the best way to prevent identity theft?

There are many digital measures you can take. But one of the most effective strategies is an old-time classic: invest in a shredder.

Whenever you or your business receives documents with personal information, shredding hides this information when you dispose of your documents.

But when you shop for a shredding machine, you probably have a lot of questions. Specifically, when choosing between a cross-cut and strip cut shredder. How do you know which one to choose?

Strip-cut and cross-cut shredding machines have their own pros and cons. Read more and find out which device you should choose.

Strip-Cut

The best way to remember a strip cut shredder is knowing the machine cuts your documents into strips.

The machine uses a single set of blades to cut your document into thin, vertical strips. This helps hide the sensitive information, in case an identity thief grabs a hold of your document.

Pros

By slicing your document into vertical strips, strip-cut machines can effectively hide your sensitive information. Strip-cut machines also offer other benefits, such as technological reliability and low maintenance.

• Less Maintenance -- since strip-cut machines have fewer blades, there's low maintenance and less chance of the machine breaking down
• Low cost -- strip-cuts don't require as many moving parts, so they're cheaper
• Recyclable -- the strip papers make excellent recyclable materials. This includes packaging material
• Shreds quickly -- strip-cut machines can handle a larger paper load

This makes the machine work quickly.

Cons

Strip-cut machines have a lot of benefits, but they're not perfect. Before buying a strip-cut machine, here are the strip-cut machine cons.

• More bag changes -- you can shred more documents, but this means you need to change the bag more
• Less security -- even though plenty of shred-cut machines are approved by the Department of Security, a thief can still put together the broken document pieces

When you dispose of private documents, take extra measures to mix them with other documents or throw out the strips separately.

Cross-Cut

Unlike strip-cut machines, cross-cut machines cut your paper in very fine strips. This is also known as a 'confetti' cut. This makes it difficult for thieves to piece your documents together.

Pros

Cross-cut machines cut your document into fine pieces, which gives cross-cut shredding machines many benefits. These include:

• Higher security -- the confetti-style cutting technique makes it difficult to piece documents together
• Fewer bag changes -- you don't use as much paper for a cross-cut machine, so there are fewer bag changes

When the machine cuts down your documents, you know your identity is safe.

Cons

Since cross-cut machines require more blades, there are some disadvantages to using a cross-cut machine. These include:

• Slower -- since the machine cuts papers very finely, your papers take longer to shred
• More maintenance -- cross-cut machine require more oiling
• More expensive -- cross-cut machines are more expensive than shred-cut machines

However, some cross-cut machines have reduced in price.

Will You Buy a Cross-Cut or Strip Cut Shredder

Your sensitive documents need to be shredded to ensure your identity won't be stolen. But will you choose a strip-cut or cross-cut shredder? Both have their advantages and disadvantages. Pick the machine that works best for your needs.

Do you need a paper shredder? We sell a variety of top-quality and high-security shredders.