What Is a Shoe Mitt and How To Use One in 2023

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Have you ever stayed in a hotel room and wondered what on earth is this mitt made of cloth for. Shoe mitts are often given to hotel guests along with other care products such as bathroom products. They are quite limited in use but when used correctly a shoe mitt can really be really useful in giving your leather footwear a clean fresh look.

Away from hotel care packages shoe mitts can also be a useful addition to you footwear care supplies at home. As you’ll discover they can actually be used on a variety of items.

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What is a Shoe Mitt?

A shoe mitt is a piece of cloth shaped like a mitten that hotels give guests as part of a care package to polish your shoes. It is used to shine and buff your leather shoes and you can also buy them for use at home.

Shoe mitts are usually made of cotton or micro fiber materials.

What is a Shoe Mitt Used For?

A shoe mitt is used to shine, polish, and buff your shoes. They are usually used for smart dress and leather business shoes to give them an extra sheen and a clean shiny look. They are often used by hotel guests on business trips, making them a good tool to spruce up your shoes in your hotel room before you start your day.

The purpose of a shoe mitt is to add a quick gleam to a pair of shoes. A shoe mitt is not really designed for full cleaning and removing dirt from shoes. For removing dirt it is best to use a shoe cleaning brush that will do a lot better job. A brush will clean away dirt a lot more effectively.

How to use a Shoe Mitt

Shoe mitts are very easy to use. Insert your hand into the mitten and make a gentle contact with your shoes and make a circling motion just like when polishing shoes. They are like a small gloved cotton towels.

I try not to be too forceful with the cloth and find a gentle polishing produces the best shine to your footwear. Use the mitt all over the shoe to give it a nice shine.

Can a Shoe Mitt Damage Your Shoes At All?

A good shoe mitt shouldn’t damage your leather shoes. They are made from cloth (sometimes micro fiber) and should not damage leather shoes.

However, do not use shoe mitts on suede or textile made shoes as in this case they could cause some damage as they are only really designed for leather footwear.

Can a Shoe Mitt be Used for Anything Else?

Yes a shoe mitt is actually quite useful when looking to polish, clean and spruce up a leather purse or hand bag. Just like for your leather footwear a gentle polish can add a nice shine to a leather handbag, satchel or purse.

They can also be used on leather jackets and furniture too. They are also good for leather car seats as well.

Where Can You Buy a Shoe Mitt From?

You can buy shoe mitts from eBay and Amazon as well as other online retailers such as Walmart. Below you will find some great options for shoe care at home that is my personal preference to use.

5 Piece Shining and Buffing Glove

This 5 piece set works just like a mitt but the set is really useful for around the home. The big advantage of this set is that yes you can use it on leather footwear but you can also use them on leather sofas, car seats and leather jackets to add extra shine.

The set is also machine washable which means they are easy to clean after use. We love versatile cleaning products at home that you can use and then throw in the washing machine. You can compare 2 similar products using the links below.

You can find this 5 Piece set on Amazon.

This option from Walmart is also very high quality.

Simple Shine Shoe Shining Cloth Set

Of course you don’t have to use a glove style cloth. A good quality set of cloths will also provide a good shine to leather footwear of all styles.

This simple Shine set will serve you very well as they are a specialized company for footwear care products. I have found their products to be high quality and this set of cloths offers 3 flannel cloths and 2 micro fiber cloths.

You can find the Cloth Set on Amazon here.

You can also find the Cloth Set on Walmart here.

This set is great for both buffing and applying polish too.

Final Thoughts on Shoe Mitts

Shoe mitts don’t have to be for use just during hotel stays or business trips. They can be a really useful product to have at home. They are great for a quick clean and polish of a pair of leather shoes before leaving home.

It is worth considering shopping for one or a good set of cleaning cloths as they are suitable for use on all sorts of leather products. If you have a variety of leather bags, furniture or even boots they will come in very handy when you need to give them a quick clean.