The most frequent problem you might experience with a broken down baseball glove is having the strings untied or undone. Catching a ball with a glove with this will be problematic since it will tend to be less stiff causing the ball to just drop out. Other than having the strings snap off, having torn leather is also another common problem with baseball gloves.
Don’t Buy a New Glove Just Yet
It will be more practical to repair a baseball glove than to buy a new one especially if you’re in mid-season. You won’t have enough time to break in a new glove if you opt to purchase a new one. A new one will just be too stiff and will require some getting used to.
That eventually will pull down your performance during a game. Other than not having enough time to break in a new glove, you can be sure that it will incur a considerable cost. It is much cheaper to repair a baseball glove than getting one that’s new. Getting a damaged baseball glove fixed won’t be as hard as you might think.
Materials
You basically will need a few things to repair a baseball glove. You’ll only need tweezers and your damaged glove to get things done. Fixing your baseball glove won’t usually require tools other than very own hands. However, you should purchase leather lacing and rubber cement or some other leather adhesive to mend broken or torn leather. It may take a couple of days to get your glove fully repaired.
Procedure
The first thing you need to do to repair a baseball glove is to inspect it looking for possible damages that you might have overlooked. If you find any torn leather, apply some adhesive to seal the tear. Make sure to apply adhesive on the tear as well as in the insides as well. Bind the internal material as well, which will seal the tear a whole lot better.
You should work on tears first before fixing any lacing. Let the adhesive dry for 24 to 48 hours. It may take that long for bonded leather to dry depending on the type of adhesive you used. The next thing you have to do to repair a baseball glove is to fix the lacing.
You don’t need to replace your glove’s lacing if it’s just loose or unraveled. However, if you find that the lacing has been broken then you should buy replacement lacing to get it fixed. Use your tweezers remove the old lacing and insert the new ones. When you tie off the new lacing, hide the knots either in the webbing or on the sides.
