03-11-2010 07:08 PM #4 mudbug
View Profile View Forum Posts Private Message Add as Contact
Senior Member
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Join Date:Sep 2009
Location:State of Confusion
Posts:389
I believe hands down the best glove conditioner is petroleum jelly, ie vaseline. This is just a higher molecular wt mineral oil.
This is what Nokona recommends, and does to their gloves. At one point they found a crate of old gloves that were like 50-70 yrs old, the Nokona ones that had been treated with petroleum jelly were in remarkably good condition while others were falling apart.
The problem with thin oils is that they are too easy to over-apply, and they will soak right thru the leather, make a glove heavy and make the padding soggy too and cause it to lose function.
You would be surprised how fast vaseline soaks into leather too, you can put a whole jar into a glove and make it heavy too if you arent careful, that is why you use any oil very very very sparingly. Any oill doesnt leave the glove, it just soaks into the leather every time you reapply until the leather is saturated and heavy, so use sparingly.
Being thicker, vaseline soaks in slower, stays closer to surface, and is much easier to limit application
Rub down the whole glove, laces, inside of finger stalls, inside palm , trim etc. (not if fabric lining though, only for leather linings) leather palms and linings will not crack and dry out in gloves treated this way. Let sit for a day or so and it will be dry-like.
Only needs to be done moderately once when new, then maybe once per season. Wipe dirt off after season with damp rag and very lightly reapply .
Oil is to prevent the leather from deteriorating from sweat and dirt.
the only way to break it in is to play catch and let it form to your hand with time, just like your shoes do to your feet. Most pros have several gloves and are at various stages of break-in. They wont play with one until it ready. some claim they can tell if someone else even put their hand into their glove.