I never really found the answer to this question...

I don't presently have a ball spinner, so I have to apply polish by hand when I need to... On a couple of occasions, I have used the LustreKing at the alley either because I didn't have time to polish by hand (usually use Track polishes) or the lane conditions were drastically different than I planned...

What is the difference between the "polish" that a LustreKing uses and a polish such as Magic Shine or Protraction?

until recently, brunswick balls came from the factory having been polished with the trusty lustrekleen machine. this machine applied a RUBBING AND FINISHING COMPOUND....not wax. many bowling centers still have these machines. there are some that are in bad shape and you don't really know what your getting. ask the manager of the center what's being used in the machine. i'm lucky in that the centers i go to the lustrekleen machine is in excellent shape and uses the factory compound. i get plenty of backend reaction when i use the machine on my reactive bowling balls. good luck !