Breaking in a 15-year Old Glove

Please share your knowledge on how to keep your vintage gloves in great shape and looking sharp.

Breaking in a 15-year Old Glove

Postby baseballdad » March 28th, 2009, 10:17 am

I bought a glove 15 years ago, when considering playing in a league. That fell through and the glove was never used, broken in, conditioned, etc. It just sat there, with no pocket formed, nothing to hold a shape, until I picked it up recently, when my son joined t-ball. Question, the glove still seems in very good shape. Should I use some kind of conditioner on it? Do you think it will still be able to form a good pocket and break it in, after all this time? Any recommendations on the steps I should take and what products/conditioners to use on it? I want to use this glove for playing catch and practicing with my son. And would like to learn more about gloves and take care of it (and any future ones). I've seen so many contradictory articles online and was not quite sure what to try. Thanks very much for any advice.
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Postby okdoak » March 28th, 2009, 11:27 pm

Think I would just take it out and play catch with it, though admittedly the last time I tried to break in a new glove was many years ago. I know there have been posts covering the break in process. If you type "breaking in" on the search feature I bet some will come up. I like to use a really light coating of petroleum jelly (Vaseline or generic, it doesn't matter), rub it in the leather and let it set for a night or two if the glove seems dry. Wilson's Pro Stock Conditioner also has worked well for me as well as Franklin's Dr. Glove which comes out as foam. If you check past postings for tips on conditioning you'll see that everybody has a favorite product to use from Lexol to good old petroleum jelly. Who is right? Who knows? We probably all are. Anyway, I'd just check to make sure that the laces were still okay, condition it if it's dry, and take it out for a catch. I wanted to do that myself today but here in wonderful NE Wisconsin we had snow flurries. Oh well, just another 3 or 4 months til spring! :)
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Postby BretMan » March 30th, 2009, 4:37 pm

Both the Wilson Pro Stock and Franklin Doctor glove are lanolin-based products. I've tried both before and liked them. Petroleum jelly will do a good job and I haven't personally had any negative effects from using it. However, to me, straight pure lanolin (which you can buy in some drugstores) or leather conditioning products that contain lanolin seem to work just a little bit better.

Of course, this is a matter of personal preference. Lanolin just seems to give the leather a "grippier" texture (not sticky or gooey, but dry and with more friction) than does petroleum jelly and the lubricating effect on the leather seems to last a little longer.

Whatever you use, use light coats and either thoroughly rub in or wipe off any excess product. A couple of light coats generally seems to work better than one thick heavy one.

Even though the glove is older, you should be able to make it usable with no problem. Playing lots of catch is a good way to break-in a glove. If your son is very young, he might not have enough "ooomph" on his throws to have too much effect on your glove! Maybe you can find someone with a little more zing on the ball to help with the break-in process.

After 15 years, the leather in the glove might be a little on the dry side and a good conditioner should help that. One area to pay attention to is the laces. Some less-expensive gloves are notorious for using thinner laces made from cheaper leather. If the laces are dried out, they may be ready to break after just a few catches. That is something to consider from both a safety and a functional standpoint.

When not using the glove, you can bend and flex it by hand, concentrating your efforts at the natural hinge points in the palm and the web. Work the leather back-and-forth, bend the fingers how you like them and pound your fist into the glove and you should get it to begin loosening up.

Besides all that, another other thing I do to break-in a new, stiff glove is to tie a ball- or two- in the palm and pocket and let it set overnight. You can do this right after applying a conditioner, then use a belt wrapped around the glove in kind of a figure-8. This will start to get a good pocket formed.

The last glove I broke-in I actually used no conditioner at all- but that was new glove and the leather wasn't dried out. I used the "wrap it with a ball" technique, worked it by hand, played lots of catch and also used a glove mallet (a ball on a short handle to pound the pocket and padding). That worked out pretty well. Now, after a season of use, I'm about to give this glove it's first light coat of lanolin conditioner.
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