How do you break in a new glove

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May 7, 2008
6
0
I'm sure we all have our favorites. Thought it might be interesting to hear what everybody does.

Gary
 
May 7, 2008
235
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Gary? Are you searching out all the old wives tales and myths???

My husband oils them really good. Puts a ball in the center of the glove and puts a belt around them...then they place them under their mattress and sleep on it!

I have no clue how effective that is, but it is fascinating to my children and they think sleeping on it is the coolest thing!

One guy told us something about putting it in an oven? We have always done it the same way because my children cherish those memories. I don't even know how effective it is.

Ang
 
Jun 20, 2008
1
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Start with a drill, a wood bit and some schedule 40 PVC pipe.

Cut pipe to about 24 inches. Find old softball. Drill hole in softball, about 2/3rds of the way through using a bit the same width as the diameter of the PVC pipe. Clean out hole. Insert PVC into ball checking for a reasonably tight friction fit. Remove PVC and rough up the end 3" of the pipe with sandpaper. Cram epoxy into the hole in the ball. Insert PVC and wait.

Using a SMALL amount of Vaseline, lube glove. Then, beat in a pocket with your new torture tool.

Bye the bye, ovens are not a "good thing" IMHO.
 

MTR

Jun 22, 2008
3,438
48
To start, you don't need to go out and make someone rich simply for packaging and selling you some "magic" formula.

I'm sure some have heard this before. From having nearly grown up in a leather factory and having a father with more than forty years of experience with kid and pig to bison and water buffalo hides along with llama and other exotic hides, the product is very simple and what is used in the processing of leather.

Go to your local hardware store and pick up a tin can of Neat's Foot Oil. Using a soft cloth the size of a kitchen towel and working with a new glove, give the entire glove a generous coating of the oil. Using the same cloth, take twenty minutes rubbing the oil into the leather. Do this to the entire glove including the webbing and the inside palm area. You can take the used cloth and do up into the fingers, but do not apply the oil directly as you do to the easily-accessible parts of the glove. If it is leather, oil it. This oil will not gel and clog the pores of the leather.

When satisfied the entire glove is coated, using a clean, soft cloth, wipe all excess oil off the glove. Some people will put a ball inside the glove, I just roll the glove folding the thumb into the web and pocket and pull over the finger. I then wrap in the used cloth and place inside a brown paper lunch bag and store in a cool area. DO NOT PUT THE GLOVE IN A PLASTIC BAG AS THAT WILL "BAKE" THE GLOVE which is never a good thing.

In 3-5 days, the glove should be ready for use. Always take care of the glove. If used in the rain or it gets wet, dry it off using a towel including the inside of the glove wear you may sweat. Always clean the glove off, removing any dirt/mud or anything else foreign to the leather. Always keep the glove in a relatively cool environment.

Throughout the season, you may want to occasionally give the glove a light wipedown with the oil. At the end of the season, give the glove a moderate oiling and store as noted above.

Remember, you just aren't "breaking in" a glove, but providing long-term maintenance for use. Yes, it is a little bit of extra work, but a good glove is worth it. I'm over 55, but am only on my fourth glove since the age of 8 and the most recent has at least another 20 years in it.
 
Oil it first (and like MTR said, anytime it gets wet, muddy, or isn't gonna be used for a while), and most importantly.....


Play catch with it. IMHO, nothing breaks in a glove like catching a ball over and over and over and over....
 

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