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Shredder that will Crosscut Newspaper pages

BuchBuch Posts: 40
in Tools and techniques
Can anyone recommend a paper shredder (crosscut) that can handle shredding newspaper?

I mean shredding a couple of folded newspaper sheets at a time.

I can't seem to find a shredder that doesn't either advise against using newspaper, or as in the case of Fellowes, straight out say that newspaper damages the blades.

Why is newspaper a problem for the blades?

I want to make mulch with old newspaper

Posts

  • LynLyn Posts: 23,190
    Newspaper sheets are best scrunched up in balls for the compost heap. I don’t shred any papers,  junk mail bank statements, all just scrunched. 
    Gardening on the wild, windy west side of Dartmoor. 

  • josusa47josusa47 Posts: 3,530
    Hallo Buch, and welcome to this jolly forum.  I shred all kinds of paper to mix with grass clippings in the compost bin; I am on my third shredder in six years, I probably buy them too cheap!  If you're going to use it by itself, I don't think you need to shred it, just tear it up, soak it in water and spread it.
  • BuchBuch Posts: 40
    Thanks, I really want to do what this guy does https://youtu.be/GFFAueROMBk

    For a while I was using boxes of printer paper just to shred but I would rather make use of the old newspapers lying around
  • Ferdinand2000Ferdinand2000 Posts: 537
    edited December 2020
    I just tested my Fellowes 62MC which is a crosscut shredder, and it quite happily processed 12 thicknesses of newsprint, and was able to do 20 thicknesses. It will do some 3 ply corrugated cardboard, but not the *heavy* 3-ply.

    (If you go for one or similar, check for vouchers or Top Cashback etc as it can be significant).

    Cuts to 3x10mm, ~20l bin. Just under £100.

    If you do what that guy does with this output, avoid high winds (or wet down afterwards).

    There are similar models; just buy one with a strong mechanism from a known manufacturer. You probably want something "branch office" size. ish.

    I shred the stuff it shreds for brown layers, and scrunch or ripup any thicker or awkward stuff.

    F
    “Rivers know this ... we will get there in the end.”
  • nick615nick615 Posts: 1,487
    Buch  Don't forget that, if you grow runner beans, a couple of inches of (unshredded) newsprint laid in the bottom of your trench/pit will act as an excellent reservoir for moisture and will use up a surprising amount of it.  I save all newspapers until I've done my bean pit, so that I then know how many I've got left to dispose of.
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