Vintage Baseball Glove Forum

I just bought a very old Lace up basketball, not a glove but leather all the same. Anyway, the leather is cracking and the surface is coming off, any hints on treating the ball to keep it from getting worse. there are spots that I am afraid to wipe very much with a cloth for fear of losing the leather.


Thanks for any help

Sometimes leather like this is best left alone...

If you put some type of treatment or conditioner it may cause more of the leather to come off.

Think of having a scab on your knee from sliding or something. That scab will stay on there until in breaks free on its own. But what if you put some petroleum jelly or ointment on that scab? Sometimes doing that will cause that scab to come right off.

Same thing with leather. Sometime adding something to the surface of the leather will cause the leather that was clinging on there to come right off.

Good luck with this one!

One trick I've tried on gloves that have a badly chafed palm lining, cracked and peeling to the point of leather flaking off, is to use Franklin's "Doctor Glove" foam conditioner.

If you've never used this product it is a foam, looking like shaving cream, that is formulated with lanolin and neats foot oil.

Since it comes out of the can as a foam, it can be applied to a large area with little or no rubbing. I will apply a layer of the foam, without actually touching or wiping the rough leather surface and allow it to absorb overnight.

The lanolin, of course, is good stuff for leather. The neats foot oil, besides softening, will cause the leather to darken slightly. This darkening effect can can be asthetically pleasing, as it can lessen the contrast between the darker surface leather and the lighter layers underneath.

This method seems to prevent further deterioration in the leather, eliminate the need for rubbing or wiping the damaged area and increase the eye appeal of the damaged section.

But I've never tried it on a basketball!