Let’s be honest – we all love the smell of a new baseball glove. And buying a new glove is always exciting. But when it comes to breaking in the new glove, all that excitement seems to suddenly fade away.
And it’s understandable. While many see this process as a rite of passage for their new baseball glove, to some, this is little more than a nuisance. And there are many gloves out there that simply refuse to break in. So, if you are the type to switch your gloves every other season, breaking in your new glove can become tiring.
Well, what if I told you there was a magical solution to this problem? What if you could drastically cut down the amount of time you need to spend to break in your new glove? It might sound too good to be true, but the answer is right in your bathroom – your shaving cream.
You can use your shaving cream to cut down the break-in period considerably if you do it right.
I will discuss the steps to breaking in your new baseball glove with shaving cream so that you can start using your glove as soon as possible. So, let’s get started.
How to Use Shaving Cream to Break in a Baseball Glove
Enough small talk – now it’s time to get to the good stuff. If you want to know how you can use your dad’s old shaving cream to break in your new baseball glove, here are the steps.
Before you get started, though, make sure you have a couple of items in hand:
- Alcohol-free Shaving cream of your choice
- Your new glove
- A couple of clean pieces of cloth
- A rubber mallet (optional)
- A baseball
- A shoelace or a small belt
After gathering the necessary supplies, you can get started with the break-in process:
Step – 1:
Start by squirting a small amount of shaving cream onto a soft clean cloth. You can wear any sort of cloth you want, but in my experience, a soft dishtowel works quite well here.
Step – 2:
Spread the shaving cream into your baseball glove’s leather using a small circular motion. You want to massage the glove gently, applying a bit of pressure (not too much) while maintaining that clockwise motion. When the shaving cream runs out, add another quarter-size amount to the cloth.
You need to cover the entirety of the glove, including those hard-to-reach sections, such as between the fingers or deep into the pocket.
Step – 3:
Once the entire glove’s surface is covered with shaving cream, put it on a table in a well-ventilated area and leave it overnight. The plan is to give the glove ample time to dry. You might be tempted to use a dryer or air cooler to speed up the process. But letting it air dry is the only right way.
Step – 4:
When you wake up the next morning, take your baseball glove and give it a thorough wipe down with a clean, dry cloth. This will remove any leftover oil or wet spots from the glove’s surface. The glove should already feel softer by now.
Step – 5:
Now you need to start shaping the glove. I like to start with the pocket. To form a nice pocket, you want to put a baseball inside the web of your glove and close the glove around it using a shoelace or belt. This will force the leather to accommodate the ball and help it become more flexible.
You want to leave your glove in this state for at least two or three days. If you have a rubber mallet, you can strike the different sections of the glove to make the leather even softer. Make sure you strike the back properly to make it feel more comfortable when you wear a baseball glove later on.
Step – 6:
After two or three days, untie the lace around the glove and remove the baseball. Give your glove a try now, and it should feel soft and perfectly comfortable in your hands.
Precautions on Using Shaving Cream with Baseball Gloves
Shaving cream is a pretty handy tool to have if you want to break in your new baseball glove. But I have seen people using it as a substitute for their glove conditioner. And while it might seem like it’s working the first couple of times, the long-term effects of shaving cream are not really that good.
You see, regular use of shaving cream on your glove can cause it to become heavier. It can even cause the leather to dry up. So, remember, only use shaving cream if you want to break in your glove, don’t use it as a replacement for your glove conditioner.
I know I recommended shaving cream as a decent alternative to baseball glove oils, but you should pick up a sports-approved leather conditioner as quickly as possible. It might be fine for one or two applications, but avoid using it on a regular basis.
Purpose of Breaking in a Baseball Glove
Did you ever stop and think why glove manufacturers favor leather as the material of choice for baseball gloves? Well, for one thing – leather is pretty stylish. But the main reason is that leather is extremely durable and can retain its shape for a long time. But that’s only after you break in your glove.
You see when you first pick up a baseball glove, it feels pretty stiff and tight. In fact, it gets to the point that it feels super uncomfortable when you put it on. Now, this is natural with new gloves. And to make it feel comfortable and soft, you need to break it in.
And if you’ve got the time, you don’t really need to do anything special to break in your glove – just play some catch with it every day. Within a couple of weeks, your glove should feel softer and much more comfortable when you put it on. It will even mold to the shape of your hand, giving you better control over it.
Not all gloves are made this way, though. Budget baseball gloves that are made with synthetic leather or simply lesser-quality leather tend to feel game-ready out of the box. But then again, those gloves do not last as long as high-end baseball gloves that use stiff, high-quality leather that requires a more thorough break-in.
So even if you hate breaking in your glove, it’s worth investing in these gloves. Over time, they will surpass the performance of synthetic leather gloves by quite a significant margin. And there are some pretty quick and easy ways to break in your glove without too much hassle.
Benefits of Using Shaving Cream to Break in a Baseball Glove
There are many ways to break in a new baseball glove. But among them, perhaps the most popular method to this day is to use shaving cream. And frankly, there are some huge advantages to going with the shaving cream method.
First off, shaving cream is cheaper than a sports-approved high-quality glove conditioner. You should already have a can of shaving cream in your home that you or your dad uses. And if you need to, you can always go to the local store to pick one up.
Besides, breaking in a new glove simply by playing catch with it takes a lot of time. With the shaving cream method, you will be able to break in your new baseball glove in a matter of days.
And the risk of damaging your glove, at least when you are simply using it to break in your glove, is pretty low. You see, shaving cream uses lanolin oil as one of its primary ingredients. And you know what else uses lanolin oil? – baseball glove conditioners!
You should, however, avoid using a shaving cream that contains alcohol or any sort of fragrance, as that can affect the leather. Alcohol and leather don’t mix well, and you don’t want to use anything that can leave a lasting impact on your glove.
Of course, you also need to remember that shaving cream is not a replacement for your glove conditioner. You still need to regularly condition your glove if you want to make it last over a couple of seasons.
But as long as your only goal is to break in your glove, shaving cream can work wonders. The steps are pretty simple, and within a couple of days, your new glove will be game-ready for your next big match. And because of how affordable and readily available it is, many players tend to use shaving cream to break in their baseball gloves.
Final Thoughts
You can avoid many of the nuances of breaking in your new baseball glove if you have shaving cream in your home. The steps are easy, and if done properly, you should not see any negative impacts on your glove.
I hope my step-by-step instructions on how to break in a baseball glove with shaving cream can help you out down the line. Good luck!
