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You are viewing: How To Loosen A Baseball Glove In The Oven
As the pro players narrate, they each have unique ways of breaking into their new leather gloves. Without this, the glove would feel really uncomfortable and would even fail to catch the ball.
A common idea goes around that what players do is they are breaking in a baseball glove in the oven!
But, in this article, you will know the safe and effective way to breaking in new baseball glove. Of course, you would not want to ruin your expensive glove just because of misinformed articles all over the internet.
Step-by-Step Guide
After getting your hands on a new and expensive glove, the last thing you would want is to ruin it by doing the wrong method of breaking into it.
Some people have different opinions on what they think is the best way to soften a baseball glove, so here are some methods you can try out.
Glove Steaming
What to prepare
Step 1. Apply generous amounts of glove conditioners
First, apply a coat of your favorite baseball glove softener. You can find this in stores that sell baseball goods.
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The glove conditioners will help the leather open its pores. As your glove can be less stiff, it aids the streaming process and makes the glove pouch softer for comfort.
Step 2. Steam the glove
Using a glove steamer, obtain an internal temperature of 150 degrees Fahrenheit (about 65°C) and put your glove in for 2 to 5 minutes.
If you plan to use a makeshift steamer, get a pot and boil a cup of clean water. Then, with a steaming rack over the pot, put your glove and cover it with a lid.
No matter what you do, do not attempt to steam a baseball glove in the microwave! You risk burning your mitt and a fire hazard at home when you bake a baseball glove in a microwave.
Step 3. Use a glove mallet to the steamed glove
After steaming, your glove’s leather fibers are now loosened up. To make it more malleable, you can pound it with a glove mallet to loosen up its fibers even more and make it softer.
You can focus on the centra of the gloves to make the glove pocket softer for closing and grabbing.
You can repeat this process a couple of times until you get the perfect fit and comfort of the glove. This hot glove treatment is one of the most effective methods; you can try this out first!
Helpful Tips
There are many adjuncts and hacks that can make your life way easier when it comes to breaking into your baseball glove. Here are some of them for you to have a better idea:
Glove Wrapping
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Besides using steam or heat to break in baseball gloves, there is another easier and safer method you might want to try.
What to prepare
Step 1. Close the glove
Glove wrapping is all about trying to make the glove “remember” a particular position by holding it in place for days.
The first thing you need to do is to make your glove’s pinky and thumb touch together with a ball in its pocket. This is the desired position that will loosen up the leather fibers, making it more comfortable to play with.
Step 2. Secure your glove’s position with strings or elastics
Once you are happy with the glove’s position, secure it in place by wrapping it with strings or elastic bands.
Essentially, you want to keep it sitting like that along with the ball.
Step 3. Wait and repeat
Wait for a few days. Then unwrap the glove to test how it feels. You can repeat this process until your desired softness is achieved.
Conclusion
As they say, your sports equipment must feel like an extension of your body. And the same goes for your baseball gloves!
New baseball gloves may feel stiff and hard to play with at first. So, experts have suggested all sorts of methods to break in your new mitts safely.
But still, do not try breaking in a baseball glove in the oven as it is too risky! Try out safer options that we had in this article.
Here, we explored the glove steaming and glove wrapping method, along with some helpful tips.
Source: https://t-tees.com
Category: HOW
