Easiest/most secure way of destroying documents without a shredder?

[20kevin20]

I have lots of residue paper from old wallets of mine. Seeds, printed wallets and QR codes, privkeys etc. I want to get rid of those in the safest way possible, without having to fear the possibility of some bad actor finding those papers and linking them somehow to my identity/location.

I've looked into different ways of destroying docs but unfortunately I cannot really find something viable for a large number of papers. I'd rather destroy any paper I don't need than have all of my banking statements, old wallets etc stay intact in plastic bags ready for anyone to check them out. The paper shredding machines I found that offer an at least decent protection are too expensive to consider them an option.

So far, the best/easiest one I found is placing the papers in a bucket of water and letting it sit there for as long as possible, and messing up the papers using my hands every now and then. Fire isn't an option right now - and I found burnt papers before that gave me absolutely no difficulty to read.. Is there a better way to get rid of those that I may have missed?

[Jet Cash]

Soak them in bleach.

But fire is still the best option in my opinion.

[franky1]

just burning and just wetting aint enough. you have to break it down into dust ash or pulp

usually best way is small amounts at a time. if you ever burned a single sheet of paper. nothing is left. if you burn whole ream (500sheets) of paper some survive unless you break up the wad.
same goes for water. need to break it up.

for water. get an electric kitchen whisk and stir that water and paper into a paste
for fire. get a fire poker or a stick and break up the wad so everything burns to dust

fire is the best even if you say its not. its just its not simple to just throw in and leave it in both water or fire scenarios

[20kevin20]

Thanks for the replies. I'll test a combination of the suggested methods. I might use the whiskers, let it dry out and then burn the remaining paste.

Meanwhile, I'll go get some wire-mesh and give paper recycling a try. Why burn/throw it away when I can re-use it, right?

[Smartvirus]

usually best way is small amounts at a time. if you ever burned a single sheet of paper. nothing is left. if you burn whole ream (500sheets) of paper some survive unless you break up the wad.
same goes for water. need to break it up.

This is evidently true. To me it all depends on you and how much importance you attach to the said documents that needs to be totally erased. The easiest and fastest ways doesn't seem safe and as such, I'll recommend what I do and it's been effective for me though, it's a very slow means as, you can't do that all at once to a ream of papers and that is, you've got to shred it and not just the regular lateral pattern but both horizontally as well to form a check or net patterns and then, you dump it randomly at different locations based on how your movement is scheduled for the day. It would take more than being a genius to put the pieces together.

[franky1]

usually best way is small amounts at a time. if you ever burned a single sheet of paper. nothing is left. if you burn whole ream (500sheets) of paper some survive unless you break up the wad.
same goes for water. need to break it up.

This is evidently true. To me it all depends on you and how much importance you attach to the said documents that needs to be totally erased. The easiest and fastest ways doesn't seem safe and as such, I'll recommend what I do and it's been effective for me though, it's a very slow means as, you can't do that all at once to a ream of papers and that is, you've got to shred it and not just the regular lateral pattern but both horizontally as well to form a check or net patterns and then, you dump it randomly at different locations based on how your movement is scheduled for the day. It would take more than being a genius to put the pieces together.

a cross cut/confetti shredders are useless. they have already shown that someone can put the confetti. print side down onto a scanner and use a computer program to put them back together..
its like a jigsaw puzzle solver that takes seconds for computer graphics programs these days

bleaching alone doesnt work as although it can fade the inks. it does leave traces and again a computer program can just use spectral analysis(measuring the minor changes of colour tones) to then regenerate the words.

turning the paper into sludge/mache. or burning it to dust is the only true way.

[FatFork]

The easiest way to do this is if you have a wood stove on hand. Burning paper over an open fire produces a large amount of smoke that can be unpleasant (and even dangerous) if you do it indoors. Besides, an open fire may pose a fire hazard.

A wood stove or fireplace with a proper flue is the best solution. When the paper is burnt, mix it with some wood or coal and there will be no traces left that could be used to recover the content.

[hornetsnest]

FIRE + O2..............that is all

[DrBeer]

The simplest, and at the same time absolutely reliable method, is:
1. Burn paper, plastic media, to ash
2. Grind the resulting mass
3. Wash off everything with water, draining the remaining ash into the sewer network
I am sure there is not a single argument against this technology

[paxmao]

Do u live near an ocean? Burn with gasoline or benzene and spread.