Smooth-leather shoes call for horsehair and goat-hair brushes: to clean, to apply the shoe cream and to polish. So you can care for business and dress shoes at every step with the right brush.
Brushes for smooth-leather shoes: horsehair and goat hair
Smooth leather is cleaned, creamed and polished, and each of those steps has its own brush. Horsehair is the all-rounder: soft enough to lay on cream, dense enough to buff it up. Goat hair is much finer and reserved for the final high gloss.
Which brush for which step?
To clean, use a cleaning brush or a dust brush. To apply cream, take a horsehair cream brush, jar brush or application brush. Then buff with a polishing brush, and for the high gloss reach for the goat-hair shine brush. For the welt there is the slim welt brush.
Horsehair or goat hair?
Horsehair covers applying and polishing and is the basic kit for smooth leather. Goat hair is silky-soft and very dense; it holds almost no cream and serves the fine polish alone, when you want a mirror shine. If you want both together, there are ready-made brush sets.
A brush per cream colour
Application brushes should stay separate by colour, so dark and light cream do not mix and the finish stays clean. It helps to keep application brushes in more than one version. The cream itself is under shoe cream and wax. Brushes for suede and velour are under brushes for suede.
Frequently asked questions
What is a horsehair brush and what is it for?
A brush filled with horsehair. Horsehair is soft yet dense, which is why it suits both applying shoe cream and buffing up smooth leather. For most leather shoes, the horsehair brush is the one brush you use most.
Horsehair or goat hair, which brush for what?
Horsehair for applying and polishing, goat hair for the final high gloss. Goat hair is finer and denser, holds almost no cream and polishes the surface to a mirror shine. Horsehair is enough to start; goat hair is the addition for the finishing touch.
Which brush applies cream and which polishes?
For applying, a smaller cream or jar brush that spreads cream thinly and precisely. For polishing, a larger polishing brush whose long, even strokes warm the wax and bring out the shine. Both in horsehair.
Do you need a separate brush for each cream colour?
For the application brush, yes, it is worth it. Dark cream left in the brush can tint lighter leather. The polishing brush, by contrast, you can use across colours, since polishing transfers very little colour.