Vintage Baseball Glove Forum

I have a couple of white gloves that need cleaning. Does anyone have any suggestions?

http://www.imageuploads.net/ims/pic.php ... x&i=122843

http://www.imageuploads.net/ims/pic.php ... x&i=122844

it might be best if you could post some photos of the gloves you want to clean. white gloves are the hardest to get clean and they are most often impossible. even the best methods might make them worse.

They look reasonably clean to me. I have a white D&M that is very similar to your Rawlings, cleaning really wouldn't help it. I decided to leave it as is.

A few things that you may want to experiment with are white or kneaded erasers or a pad for cleaning white nubuck shoes. The erasers can be picked up in any art store, the nubuck cleaner may be tough to locate. I found some by chance in an old family 5+10 somewhere in rural NH once. I haven't seen too many white nubuck shoes in the last couple of decades. I'm pretty sure it was a Meltonian product though. It looked like a rosin bag.

White gloves are pretty scarse as you know so I would exercise greater caution when cleaning them. Generally, wet cleaning doesn't work out so well and usually makes them look worse. Your general approach should be to try to lift the dirt as opposed to wiping it off. Good luck.

Thanks for the advice. I think I'll leave well enough alone. The Rawlings glove is an Art Fletcher Model and I was hoping I could do something to get the endorsement more visible but it does have a couple of splits in the palm.
The Spalding is a Charles Tesreau Model and the endorsement is pretty good on it. I had the Glove Doctor replace the lining which improved its shape.

Thanks again for your help.

I'd agree with leaving them alone - those are great looking gloves - thanks for sharing!

If you any of you haven't already tried them.....the Magic Eraser's work quite well, and will not damage the leather of even the most fragile of gloves. Visit your local grocery store and pick up a box....you should be pleased with the results.

Mike

I agree with you on leaving them the way they are, although at times I have the urge to clean gloves....especially the white ones. Suede eraser is a great cleaner, although I wouldn't use the brush that comes along with it because it's too abrasive. I've also heard of cleaning with water, but very risky and you gotta know what you're doing. Neat gloves. You mention the one that has been relined is a Spalding, but doesn't the patch say Goldsmith? Although I must say the red patch did throw me, I'm not used to that one. I'm used to the blue Goldsmith patch with the iron cross. Is the red patch Goldsmith unique? Now that I think of it I haven't seen many, although maybe I haven't noticed. That is an interesting topic to ponder.......RBD

Hello, I use water and a toothbrush. If you work fast and change out the dirty water often then you can get some really nice results. Attached are pictures of a Thos. Wilson 1" web that I cleaned last year and it had stamped ink names on the back of all the fingers which I was able to get out. This doesn't work on all types of white leather so be careful.
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I tried the water & toothbrush on the Fletcher glove and actually got the endorsement to come out which is what I wanted. I just did it around the endorsement. I decided to leave the rest as is.

This glove is very stiff and has 2 one inch splits on the front. Any safe ways to soften it up. Is there anything that can be done about the splits. I've been thinking about getting the lining replaced. Would this help or hurt.

Thanks for everyones help.

Doug

After alot of thought and a few sleepless nights, I decided to try the Magic Eraser as suggested by Glove-Works on the Tesreau glove. As you can see from the photos, it did a good job.

http://www.imageuploads.net/ims/pic.php ... x&i=123585


White Tesreau with 2 Tesreau bucklebacks

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Thanks Glove-Works

Is Magic Eraser that's been discuss the Mr. Clean brand or something else?

I'm assuming the "magic" eraser is the suede eraser. I don't see how the Mr. Clean Magic Eraser would be beneficial to leather. However it's great for other things.

I myself have used the Mr Clean magic eraser numerous times with great success. It works on white leather really well.

Thanks guys, I'll give them both a try. Ricky, sure you didn't use Magic Eraser on those silky white legs?

Mr. Clean Magic Erasers are micro abrasives. You'll remove a small amount of surface grain if you try to clean leather with them. They work well. Just be prepared for a slightly sueded surface when you're done. I've only used it once and I didn't use it with water.