Vintage Baseball Glove Forum

For gloves/mitts that were heavily doped with pine tar or rosin, what's the best way to strip them? Fast Orange and elbow grease isn't getting it done, and I'm reluctant to escalate to rubbing alcohol or mineral spirits unless that's what it'll take. Thanks.

Hey Sarge, loved the other comment. I'm picturing that black crap in between the fingers of a 50's Rawlings 3 finger. Rubbing alcohol works way better than Fast Orange and elbow grease in my opinion. It only takes like two wipes and it's gone. The leather will dry out when the alcohol dries in like one minute. Make sure you condition the hell out of it when you are done. Vaseline responds well to that high end leather on 40's and 50's gloves. A day or two later when it dries, it will be super supple and clean. Worst case scenario is the overall look will be one shade darker but it will feel fantastic. Good luck.

JD

Rubbing alcohol works well in removing/dissolving certain types of grime. I try to find the bottle with the highest concentration of Isoprpyl, about 90%. I have used the 70% Isopropyl mixture and it doesn't work nearly as well. I would use it in a well ventilated area. Hope that helps.

Thanks. That's a detail I wouldn't have thought of.