Baseball glove care is a subject I could talk about for hours. Whenever someone asks how I take care of my gloves, I usually end up talking more about storage than anything else. It might not sound as exciting as picking the right conditioner or breaking a glove in, but storing your glove correctly is honestly one of the biggest parts of glove care.
Here’s the thing. You can be as careful as possible with your glove. You can clean and condition it every chance you get. None of that matters much if you don’t store it the right way afterward. Eventually the leather starts to crack and degrade, and you won’t even be able to pinpoint what went wrong.
I’ve seen too many good gloves get ruined by bad storage habits, so I want to walk you through exactly how I store my own gloves, in season and out, so yours can last as long as it possibly can.
Where to Store a Baseball Glove?
Before I get into how you store a glove, let’s talk about where. Location matters a lot here. Put your glove in the wrong spot and the leather is going to suffer for it, no matter how well you clean and condition it otherwise.
Two things matter most: temperature and moisture. Both can wreck leather fast, so you want a spot that stays reasonably moderate on both fronts. Personally, I keep my baseball gear, gloves included, in a separate, well ventilated room in my house. I still play from time to time, so having everything in one place means I can grab it and go whenever I need to.
A locker works fine too, as long as it’s temperature regulated. If you’re using one, tossing in a small dehumidifier is a smart extra step to keep moisture from building up around the glove.
Really, you can store your glove almost anywhere as long as the temperature and humidity in that spot aren’t extreme. What matters more than the exact location, in my experience, is how you take care of your baseball glove in general and how you handle it once it’s time to put it away.
How to Store a Baseball Glove Between Games
Baseball season runs through spring, summer, and into fall. During that stretch you’re probably practicing or playing every few days, so you naturally want your glove somewhere you can grab easily.
That doesn’t mean the details stop mattering, though. During the season, I like to hang my glove on a laundry loop somewhere inside my house. There are two real benefits to doing this. First, hanging it lets the glove air dry properly, so sweat and moisture from your hand don’t sit trapped against the leather.
The bigger benefit is that airflow and light help knock out bacteria that builds up while you play. Since my glove gets plenty of air (I hang it in a well ventilated room), I don’t have to worry much about mold forming around the finger stalls or the wrist opening. It also keeps the glove from picking up that sour, musty smell gloves get when they’re closed up too long.
Some players just toss their glove in their equipment bag between games. I’m not a huge fan of that method, but it does have one real advantage: it protects the glove from getting knocked around or exposed to the elements.
If you go that route, keep a baseball in the pocket and strap the glove shut with a belt or glove wrap to help it hold its shape. I’ve seen gloves come out of an equipment bag looking noticeably deformed after being tossed in loose, so don’t skip that step.
How to Store a Baseball Glove Long Term
Baseball isn’t really a year-round sport for most players. There’s a long offseason break, especially through the winter months, and that means you need a different storage approach than what works between games. Two things to keep in mind here:
- Keep the glove in a cool, dry location at room temperature.
- Keep it seated upright on a shelf rather than tossed in a drawer or bag.
The temperature part is straightforward. Baseball gloves are typically made from leather or another organic material, and neither holds up well to extreme heat or cold. Long exposure to either one will dry out, stiffen, or crack the leather over time.
So skip storing it in your equipment bag, near a heater or vent, or anywhere else the temperature swings a lot. Since it’ll likely sit for months at a time, any of that fluctuation adds up, and the leather pays the price for it.
Storing it upright helps preserve the glove’s shape. It’ll probably still need a bit of re-breaking-in once you take it back out, but nowhere near as much as if you’d left it crumpled in a bag all winter. That’s exactly why a lot of players use a dedicated baseball glove stand for offseason storage. It props the glove open in the right position without you having to think about it.
If you’re using a plain shelf instead, set the glove down so the thumb and pinky rest against the surface, with the palm facing downward. That position keeps the pocket protected and cuts down on how much air actually reaches the inside of the glove.
Can Baseball Gloves Be Stored in a Shed?
One question I get asked a lot is whether it’s fine to store a glove in a shed. There’s nothing inherently wrong with it, but there are a few things worth checking first. Is the shed climate controlled at all? Can you lock it? Have you had any issues with pests getting in before?
Moisture is the biggest problem in most sheds, and without any heat or humidity control, it’s really not an ideal spot for a glove you actually care about. Add in the chance of rodents chewing on the leather, or the glove getting stolen if the shed doesn’t lock, and it’s easy to see why I’d steer clear.
With all that in mind, I wouldn’t use a shed as your main glove storage spot. Too many things can go wrong for what you’d actually gain in convenience.
Storage Mistakes That Wreck a Glove’s Shape
Past just picking a good location, there are a handful of habits I see players fall into that undo all that effort. Watch out for these:
- Sealing it in a plastic bag or airtight container. This traps whatever moisture is left in the leather instead of letting it breathe, which is a fast track to mildew, even on a glove that felt dry going in.
- Storing it flat on its side. Over time, gravity flattens the pocket and the fingers can start to splay out.
- Stacking gear on top of it. Bats, helmets, and other equipment sitting on a glove in a bag will crush the shape you worked hard to break in.
- Leaving it in a hot car or truck bed. Even a couple of hours in that kind of heat can dry out the leather and weaken the laces faster than you’d expect.
If you’re shopping for something dedicated to hold the glove between uses, look for a bag made from a breathable material like canvas or mesh rather than solid vinyl or plastic. It makes a real difference over a full season.
Related Questions
Properly storing your baseball glove makes all the difference between it surviving two or more seasons or you needing a replacement glove mid-season. It’s understandable if you still have a few questions about proper storage techniques for baseball gloves.
With that in mind, here are some of the common questions I get asked by people working through the same dilemma.
Do Baseball Gloves Need to Be Stored in the House?
Personally, I like keeping my baseball gloves close by in my own house. But you don’t absolutely have to do that if it’s not convenient. If you play at a field with lockers, or your team has a shared, climate controlled storage space, that works just as well.
How Do You Store a Soaked Baseball Glove?
You don’t. Never store a soaked baseball glove without drying it first. A wet glove needs to be dried and conditioned properly before you put it away, or you’re basically inviting mold and mildew in. I’ve already covered how to dry a wet baseball glove, which should give you a good idea of what to do before it goes anywhere near a locker or shelf.
Should You Put Your Baseball Glove in Your Bag?
I’m not a huge fan of keeping my glove in my bag if I can avoid it, but you can definitely do so if you’re using it frequently. Just make sure the bag is kept somewhere dry, at a temperature close to room temperature. You don’t want the bag getting too hot or too cold, since that can damage the leather even through the bag itself.
What Should I Do With an Old, Retired Glove?
If a glove is done playing but you can’t bring yourself to toss it, storage isn’t really the goal anymore, showing it off is. My guide on how to display baseball gloves walks through display cases and a few DIY options if you’d rather turn an old glove into something you actually look at instead of something buried in a closet.
Almost Done
At first glance, you might think storing your baseball glove is no big deal. That kind of thinking is exactly what lands a glove in the dumpster before its time. Properly caring for your glove ensures a long lifespan, and storage plays a huge role in that, right alongside how you clean and condition it.
I hope this rundown on how to store a baseball glove helps you get a bit more mileage out of yours. Cheers!
Tyler Wells
With 4 years of Division II experience, a .272 career batting average, .410 on-base percentage, and 7 home runs, I’m now in my fifth season. I’ve played baseball since age 3, alongside future MLB Draft picks, and I aim to pursue a career in baseball professionally, be it playing, coaching, or scouting.