Some mitt oil (or other oil designed for leather care)

A baseball (one you don't need for play)

A few thick, strong rubber bands

Some water and a basin

Breaking in a mitt properly will take anywhere from a few days to several weeks.

2torial #0436: Learn2 Break in a Baseball Mitt Glove at first sight! Baseball mitts are very special things. Far from being ready to use straight from the store, they demand individual effort to fully realize their enormously wonderful potential. Much more than a summer's worth of dreams are contained within that flexible leather palm. There's magic and loss, and the green fields of our first hopes and friendships. You'll find them in the well-worn soul, a soul that's born in the transition from store-bought item to custom-fitted companion. It's the nature of leather to adapt to usage, and the only true way to optimize a mitt is by using it to play. But there are steps which can help that process begin, steps that fall under the heading of "breaking in" the glove. What you want to do is soften the leather in the palm of the glove. At the same time you'll be training the glove to close over a baseball in such a way as to grip it firmly, but provide easy access when the ball needs to be transferred to your other hand. If you ask five different people how to break in a baseball mitt, you'll probably get five different answers. Two methods are provided here, both of which work very well. Choose the one that appeals to you; if it doesn't produce satisfactory results, try the other. Method 1