Comments on: The exploding paper shredder

By: Al

Al — Sun, 13 May 2012 10:05:23 +0000

I just had my fellowes shredder explode on my face this afternoon after I lubricated it with liquid silicon grease. I remember seeing a spark, followed by a loud explosion/force and heat on my face. All of my hair were standing up just like in cartoons when there’s an explosion.

It scared me a lot, I couldn’t open my eyes properly, I thought I had eye damage. It turned out that my eyelashes were just burned together and they were just like velcro. Good thing I wore glasses. It got thrown 4 feet from my face, but it probably gave me time to close my eyes.

I ran cold water on my face, and put some lotion. All of my hair were standing up just like in cartoons. I had to cut my hair real short because it has become 70s afro (and I’m asian with straight hair). I also had to trim all my velcro eyelashes using a nose trimmer.

By: Wes

Wes — Sun, 29 Jan 2012 17:10:58 +0000

Mine just “exploded” this morning. Singed the hair on my scalp, eyebrows, eyelashes, and arm. Thank goodness I wear glasses so I had some protection. I used food grade silicone spray to lubricate the shredder. I see that the propellant is liquefied petroleum gas. And it recommends to wait 60 seconds to allow drying before use. I didn’t do that. Maybe some of the propellant got on the motor. I only saw a yellow flash and felt some heat. Then I looked in the mirror and saw that I looked like one of the Three Stooges. I’m still a little shaky. I won’t buy another shredder for a long while. Only Shred-A-Thons for me.

By: bridgette

bridgette — Tue, 12 Oct 2010 14:41:00 +0000

OMG, i also have become a victim of the exploding paper shredder. It just happened two days ago, when I decided that it was time to shred all the accumulated paper in the bin. I decided to lubricate the blades, unplugged the machine and lubed it up. Then I plugged it back in shortly after, and at first the light wouldent come on so I unplugged it and tried it again. It then worked. So I put a piece of paper in it and was watching to make sure it was working, then I heard a click, saw a flash of fire and smoke, then a loud explosion. It threw me backwards and exploded just a few inches from my face. It was horrible. I suffered singed hair, and burns to the cornea of my right eye and sclera of both eyes. I would never have thought that a paper shredder could become a “bomb” and explode in the manner it did, verry scarry. I would like to know if anyone has contacted a lawyer after their explosion incidents, and if so what was the outcome???

By: JoAnn

JoAnn — Thu, 15 Jul 2010 20:18:50 +0000

Oh, Tony! That’s TERRIBLE! I hope you feel better soon and that you heal quickly from this. I know I’ll never look at a paper shredder the same way again…that’s for sure!

By: Tony

Tony — Thu, 15 Jul 2010 19:12:45 +0000

I just had an incident with my shredder. It’s made by FELLOWES, model #CRC32602.1. I have singed facial hair, arm and hand hair, and my right eye took the brunt of the explosion, I had to take a trip to the ER. I have 1st and 2nd degree burns and blurred vision on the rt eye. I also have some damadge to my lungs. I’m on anti-biotics, steroids and eye drops now. I would have never expected my shreadder to be that dangerous!

By: Sean

Sean — Wed, 30 Dec 2009 17:04:12 +0000

Man oh man that must have been scary!

By: Toni

Toni — Thu, 12 Nov 2009 18:18:29 +0000

Wow, scary thought. I did read about a year ago about a cop, whose shredder caught on fire, but that was because of the oil he had used after shredding so much.

By: Momma

Momma — Wed, 28 Oct 2009 00:29:41 +0000

Jen, that’s funny! I made a comment about Mr. North and Fawn on Saturday, too.

Melissa, it was crazy!

hosting, we were just shredding paper. That’s it. Paper. It was, after all, a paper shredder. I know…how crazy is that!?

By: hosting review

hosting review — Tue, 27 Oct 2009 23:28:57 +0000

What DID you shread???? If it wasn’t so dangerous, it would be hilarious. Rgds.

By: Melissa @ Full Circle

Melissa @ Full Circle — Tue, 27 Oct 2009 04:49:03 +0000

DH knows everything about everything and everything and was dumbfounded when I told him about the Great Exploding Shredder Incident. I stand firm on my belief that Misty and her crew should do a story on it (eyebrows can be shaved for news’s sake-just sayin’). Ties, dog collars, baby’s clothes getting sucked in sure, but never this.

I’m retweeting, F/B’ing and emailing everyone I know. It’s a total PSA.

Again, so glad everyone is ok (and the only thing that has stuck w/ Claire is that things explode–that cracked me up!).