IDEAL document shredders are quality products "Made in Germany." In general, all document shredders are characterized by innovative design, legendary reliability, long service life, impressive ease of use, and high operational safety. This is also demonstrated by a certified quality management system according to DIN EN ISO 9001:2015. When you choose to purchase an IDEAL paper shredder, you will receive a durable shredder that has been carefully designed down to the last detail and is therefore intuitive to use. Special features such as the Safety Protection System and the Easy-Switch control element set standards in terms of operational safety and ease of use. The lifetime guarantee on the hardened solid steel cutter heads of IDEAL document shredders also provides peace of mind, based on over 65 years of experience, high-quality materials, and meticulous craftsmanship. This is complemented by our commitment to supply spare parts for all professional shredders "Made in Balingen" for at least 15 years after the end of production. An ideal quality promise for you.

Sustainability and the careful use of resources also play a very important role in IDEAL document shredders. The certified environmental and energy management systems according to DIN EN ISO 14001:2015 and 50001:2011 demonstrate that environmental awareness is a key issue. IDEAL document shredders are the first to be awarded the Blue Angel for their energy efficiency and environmental friendliness.

When it comes to data protection, it's not the amount of paper generated that matters, but its content. Even small amounts of paper must be securely destroyed. IDEAL desk shredders guarantee discretion and data protection right where confidential documents are created: at the individual desk in the office. If you're considering purchasing one of these devices and are wondering what the benefits are for you, read on. The devices operate quietly, are extremely user-friendly, and can even be used in small group offices, depending on your needs. All professional shredders feature a paper clip-resistant cutting mechanism made of hardened special steel, as well as a smooth-running, energy-efficient, and long-lasting AC motor. At many desk workstations, IDEAL paper shredders serve as the perfect wastebasket replacement and are as essential equipment as a fax machine or copier.

When exceptional performance and a high shred volume are required, IDEAL office shredders are the first choice. They are suitable for centralized use in larger workgroups, open-plan offices, or on the office floor, for example, next to the copier, and are characterized by their high level of user comfort. IDEAL office shredders are intuitive to use and safe – a decisive advantage when many different people work with one shredder. Another important criterion for centralized use is the generous working width, which, at up to 400 mm, meets the shredding requirements of a wide variety of users. And the very generous shred volume ensures that IDEAL office shredders can handle a lot, even in continuous use.

No matter the volume of paper to be destroyed, you should completely control the destruction of confidential data and not leave the responsibility to external disposal companies. An IDEAL high-capacity document shredder makes you independent of external disposal companies. All professional shredders in this range are suitable for continuous operation, and even the entry-level document shredders in this class have sufficient capacity for the paper to be destroyed on an "entire" office floor. Powerful machines with a practical hopper allow you to shred entire wastebasket contents, including crumpled paper containing confidential information. Other document shredder models feature a large feed table including a conveyor belt, so that even the largest volumes of paper can be efficiently fed into a central location and destroyed particularly quickly. The top-of-the-line document shredder can even handle up to 700 sheets of paper simultaneously and even destroys entire file folders, including the bow mechanism – even with high security requirements.

When it comes to data protection, it's not the amount of paper generated that matters, but its content. Even small amounts of paper must be securely destroyed. IDEAL desk shredders guarantee discretion and data protection right where confidential documents are created: at the individual desk in the office. If you're considering purchasing one of these devices and are wondering what the benefits are for you, read on. The devices operate quietly, are extremely user-friendly, and can even be used in small group offices, depending on your needs. All professional shredders feature a paper clip-resistant cutting mechanism made of hardened special steel, as well as a smooth-running, energy-efficient, and long-lasting AC motor. At many desk workstations, IDEAL paper shredders serve as the perfect wastebasket replacement and are as essential equipment as a fax machine or copier.

When exceptional performance and a high shred volume are required, IDEAL office shredders are the first choice. They are suitable for centralized use in larger workgroups, open-plan offices, or on the office floor, for example, next to the copier, and are characterized by their high level of user comfort. IDEAL office shredders are intuitive to use and safe – a decisive advantage when many different people work with one shredder. Another important criterion for centralized use is the generous working width, which, at up to 400 mm, meets the shredding requirements of a wide variety of users. And the very generous shred volume ensures that IDEAL office shredders can handle a lot, even in continuous use.

No matter the volume of paper to be destroyed, you should completely control the destruction of confidential data and not leave the responsibility to external disposal companies. An IDEAL high-capacity document shredder makes you independent of external disposal companies. All professional shredders in this range are suitable for continuous operation, and even the entry-level document shredders in this class have sufficient capacity for the paper to be destroyed on an "entire" office floor. Powerful machines with a practical hopper allow you to shred entire wastebasket contents, including crumpled paper containing confidential information. Other document shredder models feature a large feed table including a conveyor belt, so that even the largest volumes of paper can be efficiently fed into a central location and destroyed particularly quickly. The top-of-the-line document shredder can even handle up to 700 sheets of paper simultaneously and even destroys entire file folders, including the bow mechanism – even with high security requirements.

IDEAL document shredders are quality products "Made in Germany." In general, all document shredders are characterized by innovative design, legendary reliability, long service life, impressive ease of use, and high operational safety. This is also demonstrated by a certified quality management system according to DIN EN ISO 9001:2015. When you choose to purchase an IDEAL paper shredder, you will receive a durable shredder that has been carefully designed down to the last detail and is therefore intuitive to use. Special features such as the Safety Protection System and the Easy-Switch control element set standards in terms of operational safety and ease of use. The lifetime guarantee on the hardened solid steel cutter heads of IDEAL document shredders also provides peace of mind, based on over 65 years of experience, high-quality materials, and meticulous craftsmanship. This is complemented by our commitment to supply spare parts for all professional shredders "Made in Balingen" for at least 15 years after the end of production. An ideal quality promise for you.

Sustainability and the careful use of resources also play a very important role in IDEAL document shredders. The certified environmental and energy management systems according to DIN EN ISO 14001:2015 and 50001:2011 demonstrate that environmental awareness is a key issue. IDEAL document shredders are the first to be awarded the Blue Angel for their energy efficiency and environmental friendliness.

Every shredder has a cutting mechanism that automatically activates when a sheet of paper (or several) is inserted into the corresponding slot. Some shredders must be turned on first, while others operate at any time because they operate in standby mode and are equipped with a sensor that automatically detects the paper. This is also the case with IDEAL shredders. This means that as soon as paper touches the insertion slot, the cutting mechanism starts shredding. With both systems, however, the blades stop as soon as the sensor no longer detects a sheet.

Paper shredders are typically powered by electric motors. High-quality devices usually have a chain drive. In contrast, cheaper devices are usually driven by gears, which are often made of plastic. These devices are not suitable for heavy-duty use. If you have a large number of documents to shred, the shredder should have a chain drive.

This varies considerably and depends on the respective device class (device size), the cutting method (strip or cross-cut), and the security level. The smallest IDEAL document shredder model can handle 5-6 sheets at a time (model IDEAL 2245 CC, security level P-4, 80 g/m²). The largest IDEAL machine can handle entire file folders, including the clip mechanism, and can shred up to 600 sheets at a time (model IDEAL 5009-2 CC, security level P-2, 80 g/m²).

Document shredders are available in strip-cut and cross-cut (cross-cut) models. Strip-cut devices shred the inserted data media into unreadable strips of paper. Strip-cut is recommended for normal security requirements and offers the advantage of a higher sheet capacity compared to cross-cut (cross-cut) shredders.
Device variants with particle cut (cross cut) offer greater data security according to DIN 66399 and are important for more stringent security requirements, such as the destruction of personal data. Compared to strip cut, the waste volume is significantly reduced because the strips are also separated into short particles, resulting in longer emptying intervals.

In Germany, document shredder results are standardized according to DIN 66399, which provides precise guidelines for how documents assigned to a specific security level must be shredded. Generally speaking, the higher the security level, the smaller the shredded particles of the respective data storage device. There are seven DIN security levels.

P-1: General data
Old advertising material, such as brochures, catalogs, vouchers or coupons
Not applicable to personal data

P-2: Internal data
Internal communication, such as instructions, forms or expired notices
Not applicable to personal data

P-3: Sensitive data
Offers, orders, order confirmations or delivery notes with address data
Cutting sizes: 4 x 60 mm particle cut / 6 x 50 mm particle cut

P-4: Particularly sensitive data
Work documents, customer data, invoices, private tax and financial documents
Cutting sizes: 4 x 10 mm particle cut / 3 x 25 mm particle cut / 4 x 40 mm particle cut

P-5: Data to be kept secret
Balance sheets and profit and loss documents, strategy papers, construction documents, personal data
Cutting size: 2 x 15 mm particle cut

P-6: Secret high-security data
Patents, research and development documents, vital information
Cutting size: 0.8 x 12 mm fine cut

The protection requirements of data are classified into three protection classes according to DIN 66399. The type of data being managed is crucial to determining the protection requirements.

Protection class 1:
Normal protection requirements for internal data (normal correspondence, advertising letters, personalized advertising, direct mail) with security levels 1-3.

Protection class 2:
High protection requirements for confidential data (financial accounting/personnel data, balance sheets, offers, payroll, tax documents) with security levels 3-5.

Protection class 3:
Very high protection requirements for particularly confidential and secret data (research documents, intelligence or military documents) with security levels 4-7.

In addition to paper, numerous other data storage media are used in our communications age, which must also be considered. DIN 66399 distinguishes between different data storage classifications, which also take into account the size of the information presented on the data storage media. These include data storage media in original size (e.g., paper documents or films), data storage media with reduced information representation (e.g., microfilms), optical data storage media (e.g., CDs/DVDs), magnetic data storage media (e.g., floppy disks, ID cards), electronic data storage media (e.g., memory sticks, chip cards), or hard drives with magnetic data storage media.

There are countless documents, whether used privately or professionally, that represent potential sources of data misuse and have no place in the normal (paper) waste. These documents should be shredded when they are no longer needed. These include, for example, offers and contract documents, bank statements and credit card receipts, invoices and receipts, medical reports, personalized advertising materials, tax documents, signed documents, accounting documents, or business books/annual financial statements.

Yes, all IDEAL document shredders are GDPR compliant. They can be assigned to a security level and protection class, allowing for precise specifications.

At first glance, outsourcing data storage disposal to an external service provider may seem appealing, as factors such as capital commitment, responsibility, and labor are outsourced. However, using your own document shredders offers significant advantages:

Everything under your own control
You shred yourself and see the results. If a service provider picks up your documents, they are usually stored temporarily before destruction. Absolute security cannot be guaranteed.

More manageable risk
The risks of large collection points, long transport routes, poorly paid staff and uncontrollable recycling halls do not exist in-house.

Liability remains
Certificates from service companies regarding proper destruction do not release the holder from liability in the event of misuse, e.g. during interim storage.

Clear cost structures
High-quality document shredders operate for many years, and the purchase price is quickly amortized compared to regular service fees.

Since 2012, DIN 66399, which is the primary standard in Germany, has provided clarity on data protection. In 2018, ISO/IEC 21964 standardized data destruction worldwide. However, its contents have been known since the implementation of DIN 66399. ISO/IEC 21964 specifies the variety of different data storage media and establishes precise security standards for their proper destruction. Data must now be destroyed worldwide according to the same conditions and following an identical process. This ensures consistent consumer protection, even internationally.

A GDPR-compliant document shredder should meet at least security level P-3. Levels P-1 and P-2 are not applicable for the destruction of personal data and are therefore not GDPR-compliant. ISO/IEC 21964 (DIN 66399) strongly recommends document shredders with security levels P-4 or P-5 for the destruction of personal data on paper.

The boundaries between the individual model groups are often fluid. Selection criteria for a needs-based document shredder selection include:

• Type and quantity of documents
• Location (centralized or decentralized deployment)
• Desired security level (protection class) according to DIN 66399
• Determination of the working width based on the paper formats to be processed
• Desired or required blade performance
  Location of the document shredder

Yes, we offer a dedicated exchange program for document shredders. Under the motto "Old for New / Loud for Quiet / Weak for Powerful / Cheap for Quality," owners of old devices or dissatisfied users of cheap shredders have the opportunity to dispose of their "problem shredders" in an elegant way. Regardless of the make, old devices can be returned to our participating dealers when ordering an IDEAL document shredder. An attractive exchange bonus awaits those who decide to purchase a modern, powerful, and particularly secure IDEAL document shredder.

A high-quality document shredder will operate smoothly for a very long time, meaning several decades. This means that the initial initial purchase price will pay for itself in just a few years. IDEAL's comprehensive model range, with over 50 quality document shredder variants "Made in Germany," ranges from professional desktop devices for security-sensitive workplaces and office machines for centralized use by workgroups to high-capacity shredders for open-plan offices or entire office floors. As a leading manufacturer of document shredders that produces its quality products in Germany, IDEAL offers the right document shredder solution for every need.

We divide our IDEAL document shredder range into the following categories:

Desk shredder
For professional users with individual offices or smaller group offices. They are as much a part of many desk workstations as fax machines or copiers and serve as a perfect alternative to wastepaper baskets. Because data protection isn't about the amount of paper generated, but rather its content. Even if only a small amount of confidential information is available, it must be shredded securely and conveniently. IDEAL desktop document shredders "Made in Germany" guarantee discretion and data protection right where these confidential documents are created: at an individual desk or in a small group office.

Office document shredder
Whenever exceptional performance and a high waste volume are required, IDEAL office shredders are the first choice. They are ideal for centralized use, for example, in an open-plan office next to a copier, and are characterized by their exceptional ease of use. As central devices shared by multiple people, they ensure customized data protection for multiple workstations or an entire department. All IDEAL office shredders have been awarded the "Blue Angel" eco-label for their energy efficiency.

High-capacity document shredders
The "giants" among document shredders. These are extremely powerful machines, featuring features such as a hopper or large feed tables and conveyor belt, for the efficient destruction of large volumes of paper in a central location. The top model easily handles entire file folders, including the locking mechanism – even with high security requirements. And no matter how large the volume of paper to be destroyed, the primary goal is to maintain control over all data in-house and not leave this responsibility to external disposal companies. IDEAL also delivers optimal solutions for secure data protection in-house, even for large-volume shredding.