What to Do With a Wet Baseball Glove

A rain delay, a wet field or a glove left out overnight. It happens to every player. The good news is a wet glove can almost always be saved if you dry it the right way. The bad news is that the usual fixes, like the dryer or the heater, do more damage than the water.

Step 1: Wipe it down

Wipe off standing water and any mud with a dry cloth, inside and out. Get as much out of the pocket and the finger stalls as you can.

Step 2: Reshape it

Wet leather takes whatever shape it dries in. Put a ball in the pocket and close the glove around it, so it dries with the pocket you want. If the fingers are curled, straighten them by hand.

Step 3: Air dry at room temperature

Let the glove dry slowly, somewhere with good air flow and out of direct sun. Give it a day or more if it was soaked. Never use a hair dryer, a heater, a radiator, the oven or the clothes dryer. Fast heat shrinks and hardens leather and can crack it.

Step 4: Don't zip it in the bag

A wet glove sealed in a bat bag is how you get mildew and a smell that never leaves. Keep it out in the open until it's completely dry.

Step 5: Condition once it's dry

Water pulls the natural oils out of leather as it evaporates, so a glove often feels stiff and dry afterward. Once it's fully dry, put on a thin coat of conditioner, let it sit about an hour and buff off the extra. Then work the pocket with a mallet to loosen it back up.

If it smells or has mildew

Clean it with a gentle, pH-balanced leather cleaner, spraying the sponge rather than the glove. See how to clean a baseball glove. Let it dry completely, then condition.

The Glove Spa Kit has the cleaner, conditioner, mallet and wrap to bring a glove back after a wet game.