Baseball Glove Care

Baseball Glove Care

A glove can be a very personal thing for ballplayers. Making sure to maintain your glove can and will go a long way on the field. The relationship between a ballplayer and his or her glove is a unique one. One that is built over time as a result of dependable and long-lasting use. To make sure that gloves perform consistently over a long period of time it is imperative that players go through the proper precautions when storing and maintaining their glove. As carelessness or neglect can result in rapid deterioration and inconsistent play. Baseball Glove Care is very important. [product_tag tags="baseball-glove-care"]

Storage

The first step in keeping your glove healthy over multiple seasons is making sure there is proper storage. Before, during and after game play is all very important. It will go a long way in the long term health of your glove.  Keeping it dry and cool is very important. Also, out of the way of harmful UV rays and moisture sucking heat. Places like car trunks and outside decks are common places where players leave gloves. This can result in adverse effects on the leather. As with all leather products, keeping the glove dry is the most important precaution players should take. If a glove does end up getting wet, players must be sure not to use direct heat as a way to dry it. Because the rapid evaporation will absolutely dry out the leather and threaten structural integrity.

Oiling

To maintain glove leather, it has always been commonplace to use oil or saddle soap as treatment and a means to expedite break-in. However, you can find this common practice by many manufacturers and experts to be harmful to the overall structure of the glove over an extended period of time. Oil treatments, especially over use of those treatments, can close the pores of the leather. Filling them with grease that not only increases the glove’s weight but can also reduce the breath-ability of the material causing it to dry out or crack earlier than usual. Moderation is key of course and light or infrequent oil or saddle soap treatments can actually help soften the leather enough to speed up the break-in process. There are a number of special conditioners that are safe and effective for baseball and softball gloves. So, it is important to choose a product that states its purpose explicitly. Many people have also found outstanding results using petroleum jelly as a glove softener. Petroleum jelly has the unique ability to soften the foundation of a glove without clogging the pores or adding any unwanted excess weight.