Forum: lifehacks.stackexchange.com
Tags: <substitute-tool><privacy>
Title: How can I destroy sensitive documents without a paper shredder?
Question: I have some documents that have sensitive information on them, which for obvious reasons I do not want others to get their hands on. How can I destroy these documents so that others cannot read them? I don't have access to a paper shredder, which is generally the recommended way of destroying them.

Answers:
sents: text: If you have a fire pit, or something similar that can contain a small fire, burning the documents will make it very hard to recover the information.
text: Just be sure that the part where the information is located is burned, and use a stick or something to break down the ashes.
answer_details: author: lifehacks.stackexchange.com/users/11641/Dragonrage
score: 59
sents: text: Blender or food processor with water.
text: Turn it into pulp.
answer_details: author: lifehacks.stackexchange.com/users/12745/Tristan
score: 37
sents: text: There isn't much substitute for the standby methods, burning or shredding.
text: Most secure is to crosscut shred, then burn, and finally disrupt the ashes by grinding into fine powder or washing down a drain.
answer_details: author: lifehacks.stackexchange.com/users/9830/Zeiss Ikon
score: 32
sents: text: Bath full of water, and then a sharp knife swilled around once they are nice and soggy will do a great job of destoying everything.
text: Add bleach or something corrosive to ensure ink is wreaked beyond readability.
answer_details: author: lifehacks.stackexchange.com/users/1558/djsmiley2kStaysInside
score: 24
sents: text: If you don't mind manual labour, you can tear it by hand.
text: Since tearing it by hand isn't perfect, you can cut out the important part and scatter it across different locations.
text: This will avoid people finding the jigsaw puzzle pieces!
text: Also, if you are really bored, you can compete with someone else (that you trust) to see who can tear the most number of papers at once
answer_details: author: lifehacks.stackexchange.com/users/1685/Ismael Miguel
score: 9
sents: text: Take the papers to your local copy shop and let them shred it for you.
text: This is probably the easiest way to take care of them.
text: For example, Fedex/Kinkos will shred documents for 99 cents per pound (around 100 sheets per pound depending on paper size and thickness).
answer_details: author: lifehacks.stackexchange.com/users/1563/Johnny
score: 6
sents: text: Folding the paper onto it itself several times, then cutting the result as small as you can with strong scissors (nibbling away mm by mm), a carpet knife, bolt/ wire cutters, sandpaper/whetstone ... will give you a lot of cutting for a little :)
text: I mention wire cutters because good wire cutters WILL cut paper too, and will probably survive a stack of paper better than average scissors :)
answer_details: author: lifehacks.stackexchange.com/users/10498/rackandboneman
score: 4
sents: text: In cases like this, I tear or cut them into strips and put the strips alternately with the old paper and with the compostables (fruit and veg remains).
text: Anybody wanting to recreate them will have to sort through huge amounts of old paper and rummage through disgusting compost.
answer_details: author: lifehacks.stackexchange.com/users/2317/NL_Derek
score: 3
sents: text: Has anyone suggested simply burying them?
text: It would take a bit of effort to dig the hole, but the paper would biodegrade in no time.
text: Alternatively, mix them in with garden waste and potato peelings and the like and it will all eventually become compost.
text: Use that on your garden and nourish your plants with those unwanted reports and correspondence.
answer_details: author: lifehacks.stackexchange.com/users/12755/maguirenumber6
score: 3
sents: text: How to completely destroy sensitive paper documents—without shredding or burning.
text: You'll need an old pair of panty-hose with no holes in them.
text: One pair of panty-hose will be enough for two "treatments.
text: " Cut off a leg of the panty-hose.
text: Put your documents into one leg of the panty-hose and knot it tightly closed.
text: Toss it into the washer.
text: Put it through a wash cycle with some detergent. Done. Discard
text: the wad of wet fibre residue without removing it from the 'bag.'
text: I have not yet found any personal information that survives this treatment.
answer_details: author: lifehacks.stackexchange.com/users/4698/Stan
score: 3
sents: text: Eating the doucment always works and you don't need fuel source or nearby water source.
answer_details: author: lifehacks.stackexchange.com/users/6606/Theodosius Von Richthofen
score: 3
sents: text: I have thought of 2 solutions for this: Burn the document.
text: Use a match to ignite its edges (Be careful) and let it burn slowly (NOT in flames).
text: The fire will slowly eat through the document.
text: Burn it until the essential part of the document is gone, then put it out by blowing at it.
text: For safety reasons, it may be best to do this above a bathtub filled with water.
text: Also, be careful not to burn your hand.
text: Throw the document into water.
text: After several minutes, it will be extremly soft and easy to rip.
text: Just remove it from the water and rip it by hand into tens or hundreds of small paper pieces, easily.
answer_details: author: lifehacks.stackexchange.com/users/12786/John
score: 2

Summary of the answers:
There are many ways that you can destroy documents without shredding them, and the most obvious ways will be either to burn them or put them in a blender with water and turn them into a pulp. You could also add bleach or something corrosive to wreck the ink beyond readability. As a last resort, you could always shred the documents yourself by hand.
The options are to burn the documents, pulp them with water in a food processor, cross-cut shred them and then burn and grind up ashes, soak in a bath with a little bleach, tear up by hand, get a copy shop to shred them, fold and cut with scissors, compost them or place in a panty hose leg and run through the washing machine.