In today’s world of corporate espionage, your company probably doesn’t want you tossing printed data in the trash directly. After government agencies started using electric shredders in the late 50s, the practice quickly became widespread. However, those old-timey paper shredders were a real pain on the ears. So today, I’m going to dig through the ones on offer to bring you the best quiet paper shredders for home and office use.
At this point, you may be wondering if you really need a paper shredder at home. And, the truth is, you don’t. Personally, though, I recommend having one on hand so that you can dispose of sensitive information properly.
If you’re not someone who makes it a point to neatly organize and keep every bill you ever get, you’re probably just tossing them out. But that’s really not something you should be doing. Instead, you can scan and save your bills and other important documents online or on an external drive and shred the rest.
In this article, I’m going to give you several suggestions of paper shredders you can use. And, as always, I’ll preface that by explaining some of the features you need to keep an eye on when you go shopping. But before I get to all of that, let’s talk about whether getting a paper shredder is a good idea at all.
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Why You Need a Quiet Shredder at Home and in the Office
As I have already mentioned, you may have some questions about why you’d even need a paper shredder. Well, I’m here to answer them to the best of my ability.
During the past several decades, we’ve become paranoid about spying and data theft. Thus, paper shredders could make it more difficult for companies to commit corporate espionage and for hopeful identity thieves to gain access to our personal information.
However, that’s not to say that the system is without flaws. For one, if you don’t dispose of the shredded waste properly, someone just might be determined enough to piece it back together. So you’re going to want to make sure that you get a shredder that can cut the paper into tiny particles.
Many commercial shredders also only take one sheet of paper at a time, slowing down the whole process. But nowadays, even small machines can handle more than that. Before manufacturers realized that we needed high-capacity machines rather than these one-sheet-wonders, many businesses outsourced their document shredding.
Clearly, if you’re trying to protect your privacy, and more importantly, your clients’ privacy, this may seem counterintuitive. In any case, if you’re self-employed or run a small business, it would definitely be more cost effective to buy a shredder. It would also save time you would have otherwise spent disposing of the documents yourself. Many companies in the past relied on incinerators to do that, which is obviously much less eco-friendly than simply shredding the paper.
Furthermore, if your company is really small, the cost of a machine may outweigh its usefulness. Ultimately, you’ll have to choose whether or not you need a paper shredder yourself. If you’re producing a lot of paper waste that needs to be secured before it heads to recycling, you should absolutely get a paper shredder.
Features to Consider When Shopping for Quiet Paper Shredders
Before I started looking for quiet paper shredders, I had to really dig deep and get familiar with these things. So let’s start with some paper shredder basics.
The general features include cutting styles and the strength and capacity of a shredder. However, I’ll also tell you why size matters in this case and how you can find the best machine for your needs. But first, let’s talk about why some units are louder than others.
Level of Noise
Obviously, anything that has any kind of motor inside it is going to produce some level of noise. Actually, I don’t think any paper shredding method is completely noiseless. However, many of the quiet shredders on my list actually have features that help them run more smoothly. They often have anti-vibration mats around the motors and are actually built with some sort of internal insulation.
Old or industrial shredders are often built for durability and performance, which means that they’re often made of metal. As you know, metal is usually not the best at handling vibration, so these end up producing even more noise. Thus, you may notice an absence of this material in the products I’ve chosen to showcase.
Typically, quiet shredders promise to make no more than 80 decibels of noise, though some of them can do even better than that. They also often have special frictionless blades, though some models may require occasional oiling.
If the paper shredder you end up getting needs to be oiled from time to time, I suggest keeping the oil on hand. Sometimes, shredders start acting up and making noise because they just haven’t been oiled in a while. In my opinion, that’s pretty much the best-case scenario. If all you need to stop the screeching is oil, the problem is easy to solve.
Cutting Styles
The level of noise a paper shredder makes usually has something to do with the way it’s cutting the paper. For example:
- Strip-cut shredders will cut your documents straight across into ribbons. Because the blades necessary to do that are fairly straightforward, this type of shredder is the quietest. Still, I’d dare to say that ribbons of paper are the easiest to put back together.
- Cross-cut shredders have more complicated blades, which may cause more noise. However, they would convert your private documents into paper confetti that would be much harder to put back together again.
- Micro or particle-cut shredders are perhaps the most secure option, as they produce the most jumbled results.
The size of the particles a shredder produces is actually rated using a standardized system. The rating system goes from P1 to P7, but it’s not as simple as P1 shredders producing 0.47-inch particles and P7 producing 0.03-inch particles. Actually, P1, P2, and P3-rated machines produce 0.47, 0.23, and 0.07-inch particles, respectively.
The next three security ratings, P4, P5, and P6, can make 0.23, 0.07, and 0.03-inch particles. However, they also have to be able to compress the remains into 0.24, 0.04, and 0.01 square inches. For security reasons, the U.S. government only uses shredders with a P7 rating to deal with classified documents. You probably won’t need these powerhouse machines, as they produce 0.03-inch particles compacted to 0.001 square inches.
Furthermore, aside from paper, many units can also handle shredding CDs and even credit cards. Essentially, the more complicated the blades are, the more noise they’re going to make. I’ll make sure to emphasize the type and the decibel level in my reviews if the information is provided in the product descriptions.
Sheet Capacity
Until recently, many shredders you could have used at home would have only been able to take one sheet of paper at a time. Fortunately, most of the units in my reviews can handle a bigger workload than that. In fact, I’d say that the average number of paper you can put in most units is about 15 sheets.
What’s more, many of these machines can have that number of sheets in tatters within about 10 seconds. There are exceptions to every rule, of course, but that’s what you can expect out of most high-quality shredders.
Size
Even though I’ve already said that size matters when you’re picking the perfect shredder for your home or office, I’ve yet to explain why. You see, one of the greatest advantages of having a shredder on hand versus tossing your paper directly in the trash is that you’re saving space. After all, a stack of paper takes up more space than a bucket full of tatters. Well, that’s where the size of the shredder comes into play.
More specifically, the taller your shredder is, the bigger its storage space is. That means that you wouldn’t have to empty the container too frequently. So, in this case, I would recommend getting a taller unit if you can swing it.
Safety Features
Believe it or not, shredder manufacturers don’t want their customers to lose any digits. In the interest of keeping the maximum number of fingers attached to your hands, most shredders have insertion slots that are too narrow for hands to go into. Still, they can’t be too narrow for you to use the machine to its full capacity. So there needs to be a happy medium.
Furthermore, some shredders have hand detection sensors that stop the blades if they sense that a hand is too close. Many machines also have jam-proof blades that can reverse the direction in order to expel anything that gets stuck.
Placement
Whether you go for a unit that makes 50 decibels of noise or one that’s closer to 80 decibels, it’s always a good idea to keep them off to the side. However, home shredders present a trickier problem. After all, you might not have a choice as to where you’ll put it.
You’ll definitely want to put the shredder on level ground. If the unit is standing at a slant, it may vibrate against the floor even more than it usually would. You can also place the unit on a thick anti-vibration mat or just keep it on a carpet.
Furthermore, if you’re getting shredders for an office, you can always make sure that it’s out of the way, far from where your coworkers or employees work or rest. After all, if you have a large stack of paper to shred, even a low-level buzzing sound can get annoying, especially when the people in the vicinity are trying to focus on their work. And if you’d like more tips on how to keep a work environment quiet, you can check out my article on soundproofing office cubicles or my reviews of the best soundproof partitions.
Best Quiet Paper Shredders to Get in 2023
For today’s quiet product reviews, I thought we should switch it up a bit. I’ll be sharing and reviewing some of the most impressive units I’ve come across, as usual. But I’ll make sure to recommend other shredders from the same manufacturer as well. So let’s check out the first contender.
1. Bonsaii 3S16 Ultra Quiet Shredder
The Bonsaii EverShred 3S16 shredder is a great cross-cut unit. As you now know, that’s going to ensure that your data is difficult to reassemble. In fact, this unit has a security rating of P4, so it makes particles that are about 0.15 by 1.37 inches.
The machine can also handle a fairly thick stack of paper, up to 12 standard weight sheets. In addition, the shredder can also cut through credit cards, CDs — even clips and staples that got tossed in with the paper.
Thanks to the machine’s jam protection system, you’ll be able to reverse the rotation of the blades in order to expel an item that can’t pass through. You can even do it easily and quickly by pressing the “up” arrow located on top of the device.
What’s more, the power button is also right next to the arrow, with the “down” arrow to the right of it, if you need to get the blades to turn inwards. The brand logo is right underneath these simple controls, with two LED indicators under it. One of the indicators signifies that the waste bin is full to capacity, while the other protects against overheating.
There are two insert slots on top of the machine. The longer one at the front is for paper, while the shorter one near the center is for plastic. These two slots lead to two different bins. The longer slot leads to a 4.2-gallon bucket that’s actually visible thanks to the transparent window running down the front of the device.
Main Features:
- Cross-cut shredder
- P4 security rating
- 58 decibels
- 4.2-gallon pull-out waste bin
» Bonsaii 3S16 Shredder (See on Amazon) «
Capacity and Alternatives
This unit does have a 60-minute running time during which it will shred everything you throw in it. Better still, it will do so while only making 58 decibels of noise. However, if you need a more substantial unit, you can also get the Bonsaii 4S30 shredder. That machine looks and works exactly like the 3S16, except that it’s about 3 inches larger all around, at 16.1 inches wide, 24.4 inches tall and 12 inches deep.
At that size, the shredder has a 7.9-gallon main waste bin and a 0.37-gallon plastic bin — which is the same as the 3S16. Unlike the smaller device, the larger unit can only handle 10 sheets at a time, although it can continuously work for 240 minutes.
2. Fellowes Powershred 79Ci Silent Shredder
This Fellowes shredder can give the previous unit a run for its money. In fact, according to users, Fellowes is one of the most reliable shredder brands on the market. So let’s see why that is.
As far as I can tell, many of the same features the Bonsaii shredders have are also present here. The shredder is a cross-cut unit that has a security rating of P4, so the particles it makes are 0.15 by 1.5 inches big at most. However, this shredder only has a single insert slot on top for papers, CDs, cards and other miscellaneous paper attachments like staples. There’s also a flip guard for the slot that has a small slit that’s just thick enough to pass a CD through it.
The insert slot takes up the majority of the top side of the device. Nevertheless, the features that really caught my eye were the LED indicators around the slot. Specifically, two of them really caught my eye. Above the slot, all the way to the right, you can see a SafeSense shield symbol.
That feature is what’s going to stop the blades if your fingers get near the machine. There’s also an auto-reverse system if the machine thinks you’ve fed it something you shouldn’t have.
Another LED indicator I liked was the capacity bar on the right, above the power button. That indicator actually tells you when the amount of paper you’re feeding the shredder is too much for it to handle.
Main Features:
- Cross-cut shredder
- P4 security rating
- 56 decibels
- 6-gallon pull-out waste bin
» Fellowes Powershred Shredder (See on Amazon) «
Capacity and Alternatives
So how much paper is too much for this machine? Well, according to the manufacturer, this unit can take 16 sheets of regular paper at once. However, this unit will only work for about 20 minutes between 30-minute cool-off periods. I don’t actually think that you’d need more than 20 minutes of shredding time unless you’ve got a lot of documents to process.
This 21.31 inches tall machine has a 6-gallon bin, so it has more space for the waste than the Bonsaii shredder. But if you don’t necessarily need all that space, Fellowes also makes smaller, equally as effective models. For example, their 62MC cross-cut shredder can handle pretty much anything this one does, but it’s cheaper and slightly smaller.
At this point, I should note that these smaller devices have an even shorter running time and a longer recovery time. So keep the number of documents you usually need to shred in mind before buying one of these units.
3. Sentinel FM120P Shredder
The Sentinel FM120P micro-cut shredder is the first of its kind on this list. Although it holds the same P4 security rating as some of the others I’ve mentioned, the paper particles end up being 0.15 by 0.39 inches. The unit is only 21.5 inches tall, 16.6 inches wide and 12.6 inches deep.
However, unlike any of the others, this one has swivel wheels, which would make it easier to move around if you’re sharing it with other people.
All of the controls are compressed into a single slider on top of the device, which can turn the blades on, reverse their direction, or turn the machine off. There are also two insert slots on top, one for paper and one for CDs, although they both seem to lead to the same waste bin.
In fact, you’re supposed to feed credit cards into the main slot according to the illustration found on top of the unit. The reason for this is because the machine doesn’t bother to micro-cut the CDs — it cuts them into inch-wide strips.
Main Features:
- Micro-cut shredder
- P4 security rating
- 72 decibels
- 5-gallon pull-out waste bin
» Sentinel FM120P Shredder (See on Amazon) «
Capacity and Alternatives
As you can see on the top side of the device, it’s only able to take 12 sheets at a time. All of the waste goes into a 5-gallon pull-out waste bin. You’ll even be able to see when it’s full thanks to a transparent window. With moderate use, you won’t have to empty the bin too frequently, as it can store 450 shredded pieces of paper.
But Sentinel also makes smaller devices that would be perfect for home use. For example, the DM101P-BLE is another quiet micro-cut shredder that’s only 17 inches tall. The only thing that’s lacking about it is that it only has a running time of 2 minutes. Otherwise, I really like its specs — and there are also a few colors to choose from.
4. BONSEN S3101-W Ultra Quiet Paper Shredder
As its name suggests, this BONSEN model is perfect for your home office. Standing at 2.6 x 7.5 x 16.4 inches, it can fit neatly under a desk if you need to save space in your office.
This model can take up to 8 sheets of paper at a time, and it has a 5.9 ft/min shredding speed. Besides paper, you can also use it to destroy credit cards, clips, CDs, and so on.
Made of top-notch ABS plastic, this shredder is extremely durable and won’t bend due to regular use. The steel knife is of the highest quality, and the high-temperature ion nitriding ensures it stays sharp for years.
Despite being on the smaller size spectrum, the shredder comes with a large bin that can fit 210 sheets of A4 paper. Thus, you won’t have to empty it too often, especially if you use the shredder only a few times a week. To ensure that you can always check if the bin needs emptying, the manufacturer installed a runway-shaped transparent window on the shredder.
Safety-wise, this model is also a good choice. As soon as you remove the shredder head, the unit will turn off, allowing you to safely empty the bin or clean the device. Regarding the noise, the company claims that it never exceeds 60 decibels. As such, the shredder shouldn’t disturb your peace and quiet as you work or study.
Finally, the auto start/stop function guarantees that paper jams won’t be a problem. In addition, if the shredder runs for over 4 minutes at a time, it will turn off automatically, preventing overeating and malfunctioning.
Main Features:
- A 4-gallon bin
- 60 decibels of noise
- A 5.9 ft/min shredding speed
- P-4 security level
» BONSEN Paper Shredder (See on Amazon) «
5. Aurora High-Security Paper Shredder
This Aurora shredder destroys everything from paper to CDs and DVDs. Using its high-security micro-cut blade, the unit can shred up to 8 pieces of paper. In the case of paper jams, the manual reversal feature is a lifesaver.
The shredder comes with a 4-gallon bin, and it has an LED indicator that lets you know when it’s emptying time. In addition, the indicator can also show when the shredder door is open, as well as when it is overheated.
At 6 minutes, this model has a slightly longer run time than most small office models. After this time is up, the shredder automatically shuts off, without you having to do anything.
If you need to move the shredder around your office or home, you can do so quickly and safely because it comes with sturdy wheels. Plus, it is quite light for its size, so moving it won’t be an issue at all.
Lastly, Aurora also offers you a 1-year limited warranty for this shredder. So, if you have any issues within the first year, you can contact them and check if the warranty covers them.
Main Features:
- A 4-gallon bin
- 8-sheet of paper capacity
- A micro-cut shredder
- A 1-year limited warranty
P-4 protection level
» Aurora Paper Shredder (See on Amazon) «
6. WOLVERINE SD9113 Quiet Paper Shredder
Featuring a 6-gallon pull-out bin, this WOLVERINE shredder is one of the best additions you can add to your office. It can shred up to 18 sheets of paper at a time, and it is also suitable for CDs or credit cards.
The micro blade cuts paper into tiny pieces of 0.16 x 1.38 inches. In addition, the unit can run continuously for up to 1 hour, after which it shuts off in order to cool down. All the while, it makes little noise (never more than 58 decibels), allowing you to work in peace.
Since the bin is quite hefty, you won’t have to empty it every day. And if you ever need to share your shredder with coworkers, you can easily move it around on its little wheels.
As with all shredders on this list, this model also has a P-4 security level. Thus, it is ideal for all confidential documents — bank statements or contracts, for example. The shredder will destroy the documents in 400 pieces, making them impossible to recover again.
Main Features:
- A 6-gallon bin
- 18-sheet of paper capacity
- A micro-cut shredder
- A 1-year warranty
- P-4 protection level
» WOLVERINE Shredder (See on Amazon) «
Final Thoughts on Silent Shredders
The world of paper disposal machines sure has changed since the days of ye olde chainsaw shredders. If you’d rather not work around something that sounds like someone is cutting down an oak tree inside your office, any one of the machines I’ve mentioned will do. And if you’d rather keep looking, I hope these reviews have shown you what you should focus on.
While we’re on the subject, there are other changes you can implement to reduce the noise in your office. For one, you can read the articles I linked to about soundproofing offices. You can also purchase a silent keyboard if the one you’re using is too old and banged up.
Alternately, if you have to listen to the incessant ticking of a clock while you work, you can also get one of the silent wall clocks I reviewed. The same goes for other appliances and accessories. Just check out my reviews to see if I have any recommendations for you.
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- By Soundproof Living
Very helpful info for me to choose a home-use shredder. Just FYI: Your review of the GOECOLIFE GMW120P describes “a separate shoot for CD’s”. I’m sure you meant chute, but maybe spell check changed your mind without your permission.
Thanks, Kay