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How to oil a paper shredder

It is recommended that you oil your paper shredder each time it is emptied. If your shredder is used in a business or government office where it may be emptied more than once a week it is best to get into the habit of oiling your shredder weekly or more when used more than usual.

Proper application of Shredder Cleaning Oil will clear the accumulation of debris and dust and restore your shredder to perform how it should. Your shredder will shred more freely and handle paper and discs with much less effort. Follow the steps below to see how easy it is to oil your shredder.

Steps for oiling your paper shredder using bottled oil:Oiling a paper shredder

  1. Turn shredder on standby ready for use.
  2. Feed 4 sheets thickness of A4 paper (lengthways) into the shredder. For wider feed openings, duplicate this by placing one set of 4 sheets to the left and the other set of 4 sheets to the right.
  3. Start shredder and then stop it immediately the moment the shredder starts feeding the paper.
  4. Apply approximately 30ml of recommended ShredderCare lubrication/cleaning oil onto the middle page “sandwich” in a zig-zag pattern.
  5. Start shredder to run paper “sandwich” all the way through for the lubrication/cleaning process.
  6. Once the oiled papers are completely shredded and the shredder stops, run in reverse for 2-3 seconds.
  7. Resume normal operation.

Steps for oiling your paper shredder using oil sheets:INFOSTOP Paper shredder oil sheets

Oiling your paper shredder using oil sheets is a convenient way to oil your shredder and it is as simple as feeding a piece of paper into your machine. Oil Sheets are approximately A5 in size and can be used to oil auto feed and manual feed shredders.

Simply feed the oil sheet into the hand feed paper entry.

When oiling an auto feed paper shredder, it is important only to feed the oil sheet via the manual feed paper entry and not via the auto feed tray. Quick and mess free, oil sheets are by far the easiest and cleanest way to oil your paper shredder.

Cleaning your paper shredder’s Auto Start/Stop sensors

If you find your shredder may randomly turn on by itself, not stop after shredding or react to how much light is around and may turn on when a light close to where the shredder is located is turned on, you may have dusty Auto-Start/Stop sensors. The chance of this happening is greatly reduced by using the above method of oiling.

 Unplug your shredder from the power supply and use a tissue wrapped around a ruler or a cotton bud to clean the eyes by rubbing it over the 2 sensors usually located opposite each other at the centre of the feed entries. Some shredders have more than one feed entry with feed sensors on each feed entry such as CD/DVD and Credit/ID card entries.

Further reading:

Why do you need to oil your paper shredder?

Shredder oil has a water-like viscosity which works well for quickly soaking into debris and dust that accumulates between the shred discs. The shred discs are placed at very close tolerances between each other and don’t actually touch, but the space between will eventually fill with debris and dust resulting in poor shredding performance, labouring your shredder. Oiling your shredder will remove this dust & debris. 

Proper Lubrication/Cleaning of a shredders mechanism restores your shredders performance, reduces noise, helps shred discs more easily, enhances reliability, reduces paper jams, enhances overall operational performance and efficiency and prolongs the life of your shredder.

It’s mainly due to the removal of the debris and dust in your shredders mechanism, that restores your shredders performance.

Dont’s of oiling your paper shredder:

  • Never apply penetrating oils/lubricants such as WD40/RP7 and the like.
  • Never apply oil/lubricant dispensed from an aerosol container such as WD40/RP7 and the like.
  • Do not use any petroleum-based oils or lubricants. Use of such lubricants could void the warranty on your shredder and could cause serious injury as they can be hazardous substances when used with electronic devices.
  • Other oils/lubricants such as WD40/RP7 can over time “bind up” your shredder with evaporated residue causing unnecessary failure.