Not_Really_Famous OP t1_je1i1pj wrote on March 28, 2023 at 7:00 PM

Reply to comment by CheeseCurdCommunism in Any leatherworkers in the city who restore old baseball gloves? by Not_Really_Famous

I think the value of having it restored is more sentimental rather than functional, for both he and I. This thing is from the 50s and is in really rough condition. I’m worried that I would do more damage than good if I tried to restore it myself.

CheeseCurdCommunism t1_je1lad0 wrote on March 28, 2023 at 7:20 PM

I promise you, you wont do more damage to it. I'm going to assume that thing is dry rotted to some form. First step, get some Vaseline and massage the glove to try and get some moisture back in to it and soften it up. Use about a quarter sized amount for the whole glove and work it inside out. If you want, you can send me pic via DM of the glove.

Edit- Also, I think you're going to appreciate the sentimental value of doing this yourself especially with how much you seem to care about it.

The_Waxies_Dargle t1_je20tmm wrote on March 28, 2023 at 8:55 PM

This strikes me as funny. Every glove I've ever owned, all of my efforts went into breaking it in and making it less new. Whether it was shaving cream and tying it around two balls or sleeping with between my mattress and box spring.

CheeseCurdCommunism t1_je24vmz wrote on March 28, 2023 at 9:22 PM

Its wild how awful everything we were told as kids is for gloves.

I have two gloves. One I got in high school that I followed all the "old age" tricks for and one that I learned better from. My college baseball glove is over 10 years old now and its in mint condition.

All that oven baking back in the day just pulled out all the moisture and fucked the interior. https://thehittingvault.com/how-to-break-in-a-baseball-glove/#:~:text=Don't%3A%20Microwave%20or%20Bake%20It&text=So%20let's%20keep%20the%20glove,hot%20air%20in%20an%20oven.