Yes, it’s true that leather shoes are cool and stylish. But that’s only true when you take care of them properly. If you don’t, then they’ll end up looking scruffy and you won’t make the right impressions on the people you meet at parties, dates, and in the workplace. That’s why you need to get the best electric shoe polisher and buffer.
Of course, in the old days you can have people do this for you in just about every street corner in the city. Now these pros are not all that easy to find, and you have to wait a few days before you get your shoes back.
You can always do it yourself, and that may be the option you’ll go for if you’re ex-military. This method makes sure your shoes look just like you want them to and you won’t have to shell out big bucks for a pro to do it. You still need to exert a lot of effort yourself, and you may not do things right. What’s more, you’ll have to buy the cleaning products along with the creams, rags, and brushes.
With an electric shoe polisher and buffer, you can do it yourself without the fuss and the extended amount of time. It’s fast and easy although you need to make sure you get the right tool for the job.
We’ve actually reviewed 4 shoe polisher kits and here’s a snippet table of the same.
| Image | Name | Top Features | Pricing | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| #1 |  | ZRB Electric Shoe Polisher Kit | -Easily portable between office and home. -Relatively silent | |
| #2 |  | Sunpentown Dual-Buffer Shoe Polisher | -UL certified which is reassuring | |
| #3 |  | Fine Dragon Handheld Electric Shoe Polisher | -Usable on variety of goods (e.g belts & wallets) | |
| #4 |  | The Sharper Image Portable Electric Shoe Polisher | -Good packaging -Cordless |
How Do They Work and How Can You Use Them?
Table of Contents
Basically, you have an electric shoe buffer machine. All you need to do is to have that pad in contact with the leather of your shoes. Home-use models can be plugged into an electrical socket, but some models may use batteries.
For the most part, the “stand up” models need to be plugged in. These are the electric models which you can use while you’re wearing your shoes, or while you place the shoes near the buffer pads.
But you can go for handheld models which are generally powered by batteries. They’re portable models that you can also use for other leather goods like women’s leather bags. You just have to hold them up while you polish and buff the leather areas of the shoes.
For more precise instructions, you have to read the instruction manual of the electric shoe polisher you buy. You should read these instructions so that you won’t have problems.
Here’s a demo on how to use an electric shoe polisher & buffer.
Portable Electric Polisher Machines | Reviews
1. ZRB Electric Shoe Polisher Kit
This is both a polisher and a shoe buffer machine that you won’t have trouble toting around. It’s shaped like a large shoe box and it weighs 8 kg, so it’s not really for handheld use. But it has a handle on top so you can take it from one place to another easily enough. You’ll want this with you a lot because it does its job very well.
Product Highlights
The brush rotates up to 1200 rpm, and the low 90w power makes this a nice daily polisher for your leather shoes. It uses a durable “anti-burn” motor that provides just the right speed and torque for the job. You only need a few minutes before you’re all done.
This can do 4 jobs actually, and for that you have 4 brushes for each task. You have a separate brush for brightening, applying the oil, polishing, and dusting. Just remove one brush and put in another, and it’s not that hard. Each brush use soft elastic parts that won’t hurt the leather.
You have one side for brown leather shoes too, while the other side is for black leather. In the middle you have the cream container that’s spread on the shoes by the brush you’re using. The dispenser can sue any shoe polisher and wax that you know will work well for your shoe leather.
The Good
It’s a compact machine that’s not too heavy, and with the handle you can bring it to work and back home. It’s extremely easy to use, and all you need to do is to get your shoes right by the brush as it rotates. You won’t even have to take off your shoes to get them polished.
It doesn’t even make a lot of noise either. It’s rated to less than 60 decibels. That’s just as “noisy” as a normal conversation, and similar to the noise level of a modern air conditioner.
The Bad
However, the low power of the motor makes it clear that this is for daily cleaning only. It’s not for heavy duty cleaning after trudging your leather hiking boots out in the mud all night. If your shoes are really dirty, then you’ll need more time and effort to get them clean.
Pros
That’s one good way to describe the Sunpentown Dual-Buffer Shoe Polisher. At first glance it looks like some sort of weird floor polisher or vacuum cleaner, with the cleaner end on the floor along with a long stem going up. But it does work wonders Even though it seems somewhat unwieldy, it actually doesn’t take up a lot of space. The stem is just 31 inches long. The base measures 7.5 inches on the side, and with the brushes on the sides the width is only a total of 15 inches. The standup design is actually meant for you to use this even while you’re already wearing your shoes. You can just stick this on top of your shoes in between your feet, and you can have your shoes polished and ready for the world. The stem gives you the simple 1-touch control that can make the buffer stop and go whenever you want. This comes with dual buffers made from 100% lamb wool. That’s an effective polisher and buffer that won’t damage the leather at all. The black buffer is for black shoes, and the red one is for lighter-colored (brown) shoes. When the buffers are used up, you can just detach them and then replace them with new buffers. The motor only uses 95 watts, so it’s a daily buffer and polisher. It’s UL-listed too, and the 3rd-party certification at least reassures you of its quality. It’s even quiet as well. It’s simple enough to use, and you can use this in the workplace without having to take off your shoes. You won’t get your hands dirty, and you don’t even need to bend down to reach your shoes. Even the assembly isn’t a problem. You just have to tighten the buffers to the motor and then plug it into to a wall socket. The UL certification is nice and reassuring, and you can see for yourself that it works. The motors are strong enough to do the job, while the quality of the buffers keeps the leather from being damaged. It’s even very quiet. This is primarily just for touchups, when you want your leather shoes to really shine when you meet the boss or new clients and customers. But it’s not meant for other types of jobs, unless you can find other types of brushes for it. This is actually a cordless model, but at least it comes with a rechargeable battery with a charge adapter set. That makes it a nice portable unit you can bring to the office or on the road. The handle is nice and ergonomic, and the trigger is nicely placed for your fingers. You even have a protection bracket over your hand to keep your hand away from any wax or oil you may be using. The whole unit is 9.6 inches long, with the head measuring 4 inches across while the handle is 2.56 inches wide. The kit comes with 3 interchangeable brush heads. One is for spreading the oil all over the leather, and then you have a polish brush, and finally a microfiber brush for cleaning. You don’t really need to remove your shoes to use this, as you can just sit down to reach your shoes. First you start with the oiling brush to apply the shoe polish over the surface of the leather. Now put on the polishing buffing brush, which will then polish and buff the leather with the help of the shoe polish. Fine, you put on the cine polishing brush with the microfiber head to really clean and polish the shoe. This is even rated for bathroom use, with an IP7 waterproof rating. It even comes with a 1-year warranty. As this is a handheld unit, you can use this for all types of leather goods. You can try it out on your belts and wallets, or even on leather bags. The rpm is gentle enough not to damage the leather. You won’t have to worry about buying replacement batteries, as you can just recharge the battery instead. You also won’t have to fiddle with a cord that can sometimes get in the way. It works well enough, and even 5 minutes with this can get the job done. This works well enough if your shoes are already nice looking and you just want a touch up. It’s best used to add some luster to your leather shoes. However, if you’re starting from scratch by first applying the polish, it can take a while. It doesn’t help that the rpm can stand to be faster even by just a little bit. This is another handheld shoe polisher, and it comes in an interesting pod. You have this pod that looks like a smart robot vacuum cleaner, and you have the main device set in the slot in the middle. Then around that slot along the edges of the round pod, you have the “press and lock” attachments that you can attach and detach without having to handle it with your hands. You have the main unit, which is essentially like a fat gear knob similar to what you see in manual transmission cars. On top you have the basic controls for high, off, and low. You just use it on your shoes like you’d use a save brush to spread shaving cream all over your face. You just need to follow the correct steps with the corresponding brush. Conveniently, the brushes are labeled, so you get the brushes for step 1: clean, step 2: polish, and step 3: shine. It’s pretty much self-explanatory. You actually have 5 brushes here, since you have 2 separate brushes for brown shoes and black shoes. The cleaning round brush can be used for both brown and black shoes. It’s great that you have a nifty pod where you can have all your equipment arranged in a nice way. The handheld unit itself is ergonomically designed to fit nicely into your hand as you maneuver it around the leather surfaces of your shoes. The brushes are also all nicely arranged, plus you have the labels to tell you which brush you use next. The press-lock system also works well enough so you won’t need to get your hands dirty removing one brush to attach another. This is another cordless model, so buy some batteries at the ready. It has a 1-year warranty. It’s not rechargeable, so you really should have some batteries handy. It also doesn’t have much power available, so it’s like you have a machine that just gently rubs the shoes to get it polished. If you’re buying an electric shoe polisher, you better read the product description and pay close attention to reviews (especially from customers). You should concentrate on the following factors: Usually but not always, you’ll want to look for a powerful engine to drive the rotation of the polisher. The faster the rotation speed, the faster you get your shoes polished. However, you need speed adjustments so that you don’t damage the leather with too much power. Many of these shoe polishers will have a variety of brushes for specific tasks. But how well do they work? The bristles should be tough enough to get rid of mud, but not too tough that they damage the leather. Some of these models may have to be put together first before you can use them. You should first check that you can do this without any trouble before you buy a shoe polisher that needs assembly. Look for demonstration online videos if you can, and be very concerned if you read too many complaints from customers regarding assembly troubles. Once assembled, how easy is it to use? Look for lots of reviews that describe the process as easy and a “snap”. The more people who say that a shoe polisher is easy to use, the more likely it is that you won’t have any problem with it as well. Some of these machines are downright noisy. That can be a problem if you’re at home or at work and you have people who are bothered by the noise. So you may want to get a model that doesn’t make as much of a ruckus. This doesn’t really matter much if you’re at home, but it’s one of the factors you need to check out if you’re looking for a portable model. Try out these electric shoe polisher and buffer models to make sure your leather shoes look nice and impressive. Now you can do this yourself without too much time and effort. With these devices, you can look your best and make the right first impression on the people you meet.
Cons
2. Sunpentown Dual-Buffer Shoe Polisher
It’s always nice to find an electric shoe shiner (or any consumer item, for that matter) that’s a bestseller. That means you get to read a lot of customer reviews for details that the product description doesn’t contain. Plus, if it’s selling well then it must be good and the price is right.Product Highlights
The Good
The Bad
Pros
Cons
3. Fine Dragon Handheld Electric Shoe Polisher
This one is a handheld polisher buffer. So you can polish all the leather areas of the shoe while you just sit around first. The Fine Dragon brand is actually operating internationally, with products selling in more than 30 countries around the world.Product Highlights
The Good
The Bad
Pros
Cons
4. The Sharper Image Portable Electric Shoe Polisher
Using handheld shoe polishers can be rather messy. This is especially true for multistep cleaning processes, when you have to detach the brush head to put in a new one. But with this one, you can keep your hands clean.Product Highlights
The Good
The Bad
Pros
Cons