Glass Polishers and Cutlery Polishing Machines: When Is It Worth the Investment?

Why polishing is needed at all

Water spots on wine glasses aren’t dirt, but limescale. It’s left behind when the rinse water dries on the glass, and the harder the water, the more visible it is. With cutlery, there’s the added issue that stainless steel leaves streaks as it dries. Both are harmless in terms of hygiene, but still a problem, as guests see them as a sign of carelessness.

It can be solved by hand, but it’s expensive. If you’re polishing 500 glasses by hand in the evening, that’s a good hour’s work. Work it out with your own hourly rate and number of opening days — at 300 days a year, you’ll quickly end up in the four-figure range, and that’s every year.

The second point is breakage. Glasses rarely break in the dishwasher, but rather when being handled afterwards. A polishing machine reduces handling to a single movement.

And thirdly: hygiene. Polishing cloths get damp over the course of an evening and move from glass to glass. Most cutlery polishers therefore use heated granulate, and many also have a UV lamp.

Glasses or cutlery: two different machines

This can’t be solved with a single machine, and that’s the first point where many people go wrong.

Glass polishers

Here, soft rollers made of absorbent material rotate, often with warm air as well. The glass is placed on by hand, turned briefly, done. The throughput of the machines in our range is between 240 and 500 glasses per hour — that might sound low, but it’s much quicker than using a cloth, and above all, your hand doesn’t touch the glass.

These machines are compact enough for use behind the bar. The design is important: a model that allows two-handed operation is much more valuable in a bar than a few extra glasses per hour on paper.

Cutlery polishers

These work completely differently. The wet cutlery goes into a container with heated granulate — usually corn granulate — which vibrates around the items, absorbs moisture, and polishes at the same time. Afterwards, granulate and cutlery are separated.

The throughput here is an order of magnitude higher, as cutlery is processed in batches: 1,500 items per hour for smaller machines, 3,000 to 3,500 for larger ones. A place setting is roughly three to five items — you can estimate what your business needs from that.

When does it pay off to buy one?

The honest answer: it depends on your hourly wage, not the machine price. So here’s not a blanket judgement, but a calculation you can follow. The assumptions are shown, adjust them to your own figures.

Assuming 15 euros staff costs per hour and 300 opening days per year.

The times given are based on experience and will vary depending on staff and glass shape. But the direction is right: even with moderate volumes, a glass polisher pays for itself in the first year, a cutlery machine usually in the second. If you only have 50 covers a day, you don’t need the machine — a cloth is cheaper.

What to look for when buying

Throughput at your busiest, not on average. What matters is Saturday night, not Tuesday lunchtime. A machine that’s fine on average will hold you up at peak times.

Footprint and connection. Glass polishers need little space, but should be placed where the glasses arrive. Cutlery machines are larger; models with trolleys can be wheeled away when not in use. All the machines listed here run on standard 230 volt power.

UV sterilisation. Many cutlery machines offer this. For businesses with HACCP documentation, it’s a feature you can record.

Limescale spots. Some cutlery machines remove not just moisture but also limescale residue. If you have hard water and no softener on your dishwasher, this is more important than throughput.

Noise level. Vibrating granulate containers are audible. This is an issue in open dining areas, but not in the wash-up area.

Running costs: granulate

Cutlery polishers use granulate. It absorbs moisture, becomes blunt over time and needs replacing — depending on usage, every few months. Five kilos cost around 46 euros, and it’s cheaper in bulk.

It’s manageable, but should be included in your calculations, as unlike glass polishers, it’s an ongoing cost. With glass polishers, only the rollers wear out, and they last a long time.

A tip from experience: don’t leave granulate standing damp. Most machines have a drying cycle to refresh the granulate after use — if your machine has one, it should be used.

Machines from our range

All prices net, as of September 2026.

Glass polishers

• Gläserpoliermaschine Combisteel 7531.0200 — €675.25 · Air flow up to 85 °C, five brushes included. The affordable entry-level model.
• Frucosol SV1000 — €1,447.60 · 240 to 360 glasses per hour, rollers made from natural fibres, suitable for all glass and cup shapes.
• Frucosol SV2000 — €2,166.50 · 400 to 500 glasses per hour, two-handed operation. For bars with high throughput.

Cutlery polishers

• Combisteel 7465.0045 — €1,828.65 · Stainless steel, 230 volts, 0.6 kW.
• Combisteel 7465.0050 — €2,390.75 · the larger version from the same range.
• Frucosol SH3000 — €2,643.90 · 3,000 to 3,500 items per hour, UV sterilisation, plant-based granulate. For businesses with up to around 200 covers.
• Bartscher 1500/17 — €3,419.28 · up to 1,500 items per hour, UV lamp, HACCP-compliant operating temperature.
• Frucosol SH7000 mit Rollwagen — €3,843.00 · mobile, for changing locations.
• Bartscher 3000/25 — €4,067.28 · the larger Bartscher machine.
• Saro MAGDA — €4,348.30 · removes limescale spots, indicator light for granulate change, automatic drying cycle.
• Saro BERTA — €8,090.25 · the largest machine in the range, for hotels and banqueting.

Granulate

• Granulat Saro, 3 kg — €24.79
• Granulat Saro, 5 kg — €45.56
• Granulat Combisteel, 5 × 4 kg — €186.15 · the bulk pack for businesses with high consumption.

Related guides

• Glasswashers: selection and operation — what happens before polishing.
• Dishwashers for the hospitality industry — overview of hood, front-loading and pass-through machines.
• Water treatment — if you remove limescale beforehand, there’s less to polish afterwards.