Oiling a shredder is an essential part of maintaining its performance and the more often you use it the more often it will need to be oiled. If you don’t oil your shredder regularly you may find that it starts to accumulate paper dust and begins to process fewer sheets of paper at a time and at a slower rate. You may also experience more paper jams.
How often do I need to oil my shredder?
As a general rule, cross-cut shredders require more frequent oiling than strip-cut shredders. Higher DIN level shredders also need to be oiled more frequently. In addition, the type of material that you are shredding will also have an impact on how often you need to oil your machine. However, as a rough guide, it’s a good idea to oil the shredder every time the waste bin/bag is emptied. You can also refer to your shredder’s manual as there may be a recommendation as to how often your specific shredder should be oiled.
What kind of shredder oil is available?
Shredder oil comes in a variety of forms including:
- Bottled oil
- Spray oil
- Oil sheets
Always make sure that you specifically use shredder oil as if you try to use shredder oil substitutes you may impair the performance of your machine and also invalidate your shredder’s warranty.
How do I oil my shredder?
There are two main ways to oil your shredder. The first option is to squirt or spray oil directly into the shredder mouth and onto the cutting heads. If following this method, then ensure that you apply oil from one side of the shredder opening to the other to get full coverage. Then put the machine into reverse to allow oil to reach all parts of the cutting heads. Finally, simply shred a few sheets of paper to remove any excess oil.
Alternatively you can put a small amount of oil onto a sheet of paper, ensuring that it covers the whole sheet (n.b. it doesn’t need to be soaked, just evenly spread). Feed it into the shredder and then put the shredder into reverse for a few seconds. Then shred a few sheets of standard paper to remove excess oil. Buying oil sheets will make this second method even easier as they are already pre-prepared.
Following the above recommendations should help to ensure that your shredder continues to work optimally and that you avoid unnecessary paper jams and performance issues.
For a range of shredder oil products simply visit our shredder accessories section.
