Every shoe shine set needs a horsehair shoe shine brush. This is the brush you can use universally for multiple jobs, but mainly for shining shoes. You can also use a horsehair brush to dust off your shoes and light cleaning (hence you didn't already use them to shine shoe polish with). Besides that there are also applicator brushes made with horsehair.

Horsehair is exactly firm enough to create a lovely shine without taking the shoe polish off you just applied. Some people prefer a slightly firmer bristle brush. In that case we recommend a boar hair shoe shine brush.

At The Shoe Care Shop we only use horse tail hair for our horsehair brushes, since it is stronger, less prone to breaking, and offers better quality than many other brushes on the market.

A boar or pig hair brush is generally a bit firmer than a horsehair brush. This has its advantages, such as that it can be used as a cleaning brush since the firmer bristles allow for more dirt to be removed from the leather. A boar hair bristle is also better suited for coarser leather types such as pebble grain leather. This brush effectively removes any excessive cream and wax from between the structure of the leather while shining.

Goathair brushes are mostly used as a finishing and dusting brush. A great brush to simply touch up your shoes with before heading to work. Because this brush is so soft, it is also the ideal brush for delicate and exotic leather types.

Goat and yak hair brushes are also commonly used for clothing brushes. Because the bristles are so soft the brush doesn't pull on the fabric preventing pilling.

A synthetic brush is the perfect candidate for any scrubbing and cleaning brush. For high-end /delicate luxury shoes you might want to use a slightly softer brush such as a boarhair or horsehair brush, but for sneakers and boots this is the perfect brush.

A synthetic bristle brush is more hygenic to use and dries up quicker because the bristles do not absorb any of the water.

For suede and nubuck crêpe is the ideal brush to use. The soft rubber folds remove any dirt and loose material from your suede shoes. Brushing your suède shoes with a crêpe brush will also restore the natural looks to the suede without creating marks or scratches in the leather. Especially nubuck can be sensitive to this. So try to avoid using a brass brush if you can during regular maintanance on your suede and nubuck shoes and instead go for one of the crêpe brushes available on our website.