Alright, listen up, y’all! You got them young’uns playin’ baseball, and their gloves gettin’ all nasty and stinkin’. So, you gotta clean ’em, right? Can’t be havin’ them lookin’ like they been dragged through the mud, no sir! This here’s how you gonna wash them baseball gloves, make ’em look good as new… almost.
First off, you gotta get your stuff together. Don’t go runnin’ around like a chicken with its head cut off. You need some soft cloths, or maybe a sponge if that’s what you got. Them old t-shirts work just fine, don’t need nothin’ fancy. And get yourself some soap. Now, don’t go usin’ that harsh stuff you use on the dishes. Get somethin’ mild, somethin’ gentle. They say there’s special leather cleaner stuff, but I just use what I got.
Now, find yourself a bucket or somethin’ to hold water. Don’t need hot water, mind you. Just warm, like what you’d wash a baby in, if’n you had a baby. Get that cloth or sponge wet, not drippin’, just damp. Put a little bit of that soap on there.
- Step one, wipe down the glove, inside and out. Get all that dirt and grime off. You’ll see it comin’ off, black as night. Keep doin’ it till the cloth ain’t gettin’ no dirtier.
- Step two, if you got some real nasty spots, them stubborn stains, you gotta work at ’em a little harder. Maybe put a little more soap on it, rub a little bit harder. But don’t go scrubbin’ too hard, you don’t wanna ruin the leather.
- Step three, once you got it all clean, you gotta rinse it off. Get another clean cloth, get it damp, and wipe off all that soap. You don’t want no soap left on there, it’ll make the glove all stiff and yucky.
Now, here’s the important part, listen good. Don’t you go throwin’ that glove in the washin’ machine. That’s just plain dumb. It’ll mess up the leather, make it all hard and cracked. And don’t you go puttin’ it in the dryer neither! That’ll shrink it up faster than a prune in the sun.
You gotta let it dry slow, real slow. Find a nice shady spot, put the glove down, let it air out. Don’t put it in the sun, that’ll make it all hard and crispy. And don’t go puttin’ it by the fire neither, same thing’ll happen. Just let it sit, take its time. Might take a day or two, maybe more.
And when it’s dry, you gotta take care of it. If it feels kinda stiff, you can put some leather conditioner on it. Just rub it in real good. Makes the leather soft and supple again, like it should be. Keeps it from crackin’. There’s all sorts of fancy stuff you can buy, but some folks just use a little bit of Vaseline, the kind you put on your lips when they get chapped. I guess that works too, long as you don’t use too much.
Now, some folks say you gotta clean your gloves all the time. I say, clean ’em when they get dirty. If they ain’t dirty, leave ’em alone. But if they start lookin’ like somethin’ the cat dragged in, well then you gotta do somethin’ about it. Can’t have them young’uns lookin’ like they don’t know how to take care of their stuff.
And that’s about it. It ain’t rocket science. Just a little bit of elbow grease, a little bit of patience, and them gloves’ll be lookin’ good as new, ready for the next game. Remember, clean ’em gentle, dry ’em slow, and take care of the leather. Do that, and them gloves will last a good long time, maybe even long enough for the next young’un to use ’em.
This whole business of keepin’ things clean, it ain’t just about lookin’ good, it’s about respect. Respect for the game, respect for your stuff, and respect for the folks who gotta look at it. So go on now, get them gloves cleaned up, and let them young’uns go out there and play some ball!
One last thing, don’t forget to tell them young’uns to take care of their gloves in the first place. Tell ’em to keep ’em outta the dirt, not to throw ’em around, and to wipe ’em down after every game. Might save you some work later on, and teach ’em a little somethin’ about responsibility, too.
So, there you have it. That’s how you wash baseball gloves, the right way, the old-fashioned way. Now go on and get to it, ain’t nothin’ gonna get done just standin’ around here.
