How to break in a baseball glove for a kid, in about a week, without the oven

The steps

1. Put it on and squeeze. Fifty squeezes while watching TV. Find the natural crease between the thumb and the pinky side; that is where the pocket goes. Do not fold it against the crease.
2. Play catch. Ten minutes a day with a real ball (a softball for a softball glove, so the pocket forms to the bigger ball). BaseballMonkey's guide calls this the best and most recommended method because it carries no risk of damaging the glove. It is also the one the kid enjoys.
3. Mallet the pocket. Glove on, mallet in the throwing hand, strike the pocket repeatedly. Then glove off, palm down on the floor, strike the back. A few minutes a day. A ball in a sock works if you do not want to buy the mallet.
4. One light coat of conditioner. The maker's own (Rawlings Glovolium for a Rawlings glove). Rub it in with a cloth; wipe off what does not absorb. Once, not weekly.
5. Fold and wrap with a ball inside. Fold pinky side over, ball in the pocket, glove wrap or a couple of big rubber bands. Every night until it holds the shape on its own.

How long it takes

Rawlings and Easton print a break-in rating on their youth gloves. A 10 (Sure Catch, Select Pro Lite, Ghost Flex, Flex Palm) is close to game-ready and needs only the catch and the squeeze. A 20 (R9) or a welted full-grain glove like the Wilson A500 takes the whole routine for about a week. A 30 (Easton Future Elite) takes two. A youth catcher's mitt takes longer still (see below). If a 7-year-old's glove needs more than a week, it was the wrong glove; the size chart and the ranked gloves both show the rating.

Conditioner: how much and which

Less than you think, and the maker's own. BaseballMonkey's guide: use only manufacturer-recommended oils and conditioners, apply a light coat, and never use Vaseline, petroleum jelly, olive oil, mink oil or linseed oil. Too much oil is the second most common way a youth glove gets ruined: it soaks the leather, adds weight and turns a stiff glove into a floppy one that never holds a pocket. A thin coat once at break-in and once a season is plenty; the care guide covers the in-season routine.

Wrapping the glove

Fold the glove in half along the crease, fold the pinky side onto itself, put a ball in the pocket, and tie it with a glove wrap or old laces. BaseballMonkey's guide notes a softball in the pocket makes a bigger pocket, which is what a fastpitch glove needs. Wrapped overnight, unwrapped for catch, wrapped again: this is what turns a week of work into a pocket that stays.

Why the oven trick keeps circulating

Because it works once. Heat softens leather immediately, and the glove feels broken in for a week. Then the tannins and oils that were baked out of it are gone, the leather cracks along the crease and the laces snap in June. The retailers who sell gloves are unanimous against it, and the makers void warranties for it. A youth glove costs less than the time to argue about it: use the mallet.

Catcher's mitts

Same steps, more of them. BaseballMonkey's advice for catcher's and first-base mitts is to use the glove a lot, keep a ball wrapped in it at all times, use only approved conditioners, and never the microwave, oven or car. A youth mitt has no fingers to work individually, so the mallet does most of the early work and bullpen catch does the rest. Budget two weeks, and buy the mitt before the season, not the week of. The catcher's mitt page sizes them by age.

The tools