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Baseball players have a special relationship with their gloves. It takes years to really break in a glove, so players often treat their glove as a beloved member of the family. There is no one definitive way to break in a baseball glove, but almost every example we found was based on the same basic method. The folks at SportsMom suggest making a homemade kit that contains shaving cream with lanolin, a clean dry cloth, string or rubberband, and special oil such as Rawlings Glovolium®. After collecting the items, follow these directions. - Rub a dab of shaving cream on the cloth and apply it to the palm of the glove. Work outward from the palm in small sections until you've covered the entire glove.
- Allow the glove to dry
overnight.
- Wipe any excess moisture off the glove and then go play catch with the glove for while. The leather will begin to form to your hand.
- After playing catch, put the baseball in the pocket of the glove, then pull the glove closed around the ball. Use the string or rubber band to tie the glove in place. Let the glove rest like that for at least two days.
- Untie the glove and remove the ball. Apply a little oil over the entire mitt, covering it lightly.
- After this initial oiling, apply oil only once or twice a year. Any more than that is overkill.
- The glove should be dry and ready to use in about one day.
- Always store the glove with a ball in it. This helps keep the shape.
We learned a few other things in our research. The experts at eHow suggested using linseed oil or saddle soap instead of shaving cream. They also advised against using a heat source such as a hair dryer to dry a wet glove -- allowing a glove to dry on its own will avoid cracking the leather. You can also dampen the wrapped glove by spritzing it with water, then setting it aside to dry completely. After it's dry, applying oil or petroleum jelly will keep the glove moist while retaining its shape. Despite the variety of methods, all the advice we read had one thing in common: playing catch is the most tried and true method of them all. Play ball!
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