Introduction
Quick Navigation
The way a Softball player handles or takes care of his/her gloves tells a lot about his/her personality. It is one essential accessory you need for the game, which means it should always be in great condition. If it isn’t in good form – worn out or dirty, there is a likely chance it will affect your gam experience.
Investing in proper care and maintenance of fastpitch and slowpitch gloves is incredible; however, not many people know how to. The gloves are made of leather material, which means they are likely to collect dust, dirt, sweat, etc. See below on how to clean a softball glove efficiently.
How to Start Cleaning Your Softball Glove?
Cleaning a Softball or Baseball glove is beyond using a piece of cloth and water; there are other things you will need. Sometimes, excess dirt buildup on this leather glove and wiping may not do the job as you wish. Before you begin, you need the following:
Brush
A Piece of Cloth or Towel
A Glove Condition or Oil
A bowl of Lukewarm water
Mild Soap
A Leather Safe Cleaner
If you have all of these, you could begin cleaning your Softball glove.
Get Rid of Dust and Dirt
Dust and Dirt/Debris are the significant things you will find on a dirty glove. Before doing any further cleaning, you should remove them by using pieces of soft and dry cloths. Use the soft, damp cloth (soaked in lukewarm water containing mild soap) to remove dust and debris. It would be best to start from the glove’s exterior before the interior. In the process, check various parts of the glove, like the finger holes, for irregularities or debris.
If there is hard debris on the glove, you could use a brush to remove them.
Remove Moisture
Cleaning the glove first with a wet cloth means the glove will be covered with moisture. It isn’t always much of a big deal; however, it would be best to get rid of it if there is excess moisture. To do that, you need a dry piece of cloth. Everywhere the wet cloth has touched, you should do the same with the dry one. If you don’t get rid of moisture, the glove could be a breeding ground for mold; hence, the health integrity of your gloves depends on dry-cleaning.
Likewise, you could apply a leather-safe cleaner to keep it completely clean and cool. Afterward, place the glove in a cool, dry place to completely remove moisture. While at this, constantly check against mold growth.
Apply Glove Conditioner or Oil
After the glove spends over a week in a dry environment, you should improve its quality or health with a protective ingredient – a glove conditioner or oil. This protective lubricant must be of high quality; a poor-quality conditioner would endanger the glove. Apply this glove oil on both exterior and interior sides of the leather glove and leave it to dry completely.
How to Store the Glove After Cleaning?
After cleaning your Softball glove, it is important to store it properly against the following season. If you don’t take glove storage seriously, you could be right back to where you started – cleaning all over. Besides, storing gloves during the season and off-season has its benefits – mostly to always leave it in great condition and ready-to-use.
See below for helpful tips on how to store Softball or Baseball gloves:
During Off-Season
Off-seasons are usually during winter, and that means everywhere will be cold. Your gloves should be stored in a cool, dry place; they should never be stored outside or close to a heater.
Dry Storage
There are chances that your glove could get wet during a game; what you do, however, is clean and leave it dry. While practicing dry storage, check the leather material if it gets stiff or not; if it does, use a glove conditioner as a remedy.
Conditioning
Cleaning and conditioning your Softball and Baseball gloves are a good thing, but you shouldn’t be doing it wrong. Check online for the best glove conditioners or oils available so you don’t ruin the quality of your gloves.
Glove + Ball Storage
The pocket being a feature of the glove, changes form over time if not put to use. Therefore, during storage, you should keep a ball in the glove to retain the pocket’s depth and quality, irrespective of whether it is a fastpitch or slowpitch glove.
Find out the differences between fastpitch and slowpitch gloves here.
Conclusion
Learning how to clean a Softball glove is important; it saves you a whole lot of mess. Proper cleaning and maintenance also describe how hygienic you are. Overall, use the right materials to keep dirt and debris off your glove and find its quality as better as new.