How To Relace A Baseball Or Softball Glove

One of the most elusive skills in the baseball glove market is the ability to repair and replace laces on a baseball or softball glove. And there is definitely a need for parents, players and coaches to develop this skill. Too often, JustGloves hears a customer express that their glove has a busted lace and that they feel like their only option is to purchase a brand new glove. But with the correct tools and information, anyone can take a fastpitch or baseball glove with a busted lace (or laces) and make it perfectly functional again.

If you have a glove with broken laces or you just want to replace the laces on your brand new glove, then the initial step in your journey is reading this blog! We'll provide you with all of the information needed to replace a busted lace or all of your glove's laces. 

Tools Needed For A Glove Relace

Laces - If you're just fixing one section, one 72 inch strand of lace should work just fine.

But if you're doing a full glove relace, you'll typically want four 72 inch strands of lace. Ideally, you'll have two laces with 1/4 inch thickness and two with 3/16 inch thickness (but if all four are 3/16 inch, you'll be just fine). A couple of great spots to buy lace are at Flatbill Baseball and Ballplayer's Balm.

NOTE - If you're looking to fix a catcher's mitt, first base mitt or large outfield glove, you will probably need more lace than suggested.

Tape Measure - Depending upon the section of your glove that is having its lace replaced, you may need to cut your lace strands so that you have the correct length for each section (and waste as little as possible). The tape measure will allow you to make these correct measurements.

Pliers - Pliers will be used to pull out the original or busted laces of your glove. There will be times where an individual will have to muscle up and really pull hard on laces to get them out of a glove's lace holes. These pliers will help you do just that. It may be good to find a pair of pliers with cutters on them to help with snipping the lace strands after you have measured the correct lengths to be used on your glove.

Lacing Needle - The lacing needle is by far the most important tool in relacing a glove as it helps immensely when trying to put new lace into a glove. You simply snip an angle into the end of a lace strand and then screw the snipped lace end into the threaded base of the needle. With a needle, pulling lace through the lace holes of a glove is quite easy (it also helps you waste as little lace as possible).

Getting Started on Relacing a Glove

When you are getting prepared to begin relacing your glove, there are a few things to consider and preparations to make. We'll address them below...

1. Remove The Lace From The Glove

   Consider taking film of the lace removal. You can use your phone's camera to film yourself removing the lace from the glove. This film is very helpful because you can technically follow the reverse order of how you removed the original lace.
   
   

2. Know the Sections of the Glove -PLUS- the Thickness & Lengths of Lace Needed...

   Webbing
   
   - Suggested Thickness Of Lace: 1/4 Inch
   - Suggested Length Of Lace: Varies. Some webs will require only one piece of lace. Others will require two or three pieces. If multiple pieces are needed, start with an entire piece of 72 inch lace. Use as much as needed for the first section of the web and use the remaining amount for the next section of the web.
   
   NOTE - Example shown below is an I-Web, but web styles can vary.
   
   
   
   
   Fingers PLUS Web Spiral
   
   - Suggested Thickness Of Lace: 1/4 Inch
   - Suggested Length Of Lace: 52-54 Inches (Should provide excess if you like to have extra lace on the tip of pinky and thumb)
   
   
   
   Palm
   
   - Suggested Thickness Of Lace: 3/16 Inch
   - Suggested Length Of Lace: 27 inches
   
   NOTE - It can be helpful to skiv (or thin out) the new lace being applied to this section of the glove before a relace. This will improve the comfort of the hand in the glove.
   
   
   
   Hand Opening
   
   - Suggested Thickness Of Lace: 3/16 Inch
   - Suggested Length Of Lace: 35-37 Inches. 
   
   
   
   Pinky & Thumb
   
   - Thickness Of Lace: 3/16 Inch
   - Length Of Lace: 21 Inches (Should provide excess if you like to have extra lace coming off the pinky and thumb)
   
   
   
   

3. Know The Order to Follow For Relacing

   If doing a total relace of a glove, our recommendation would be to remove all of the lace from a glove (remember to film!) before starting to add new lace. This gives the glove the most pliability when adding lace back into it. Once all the lace is removed we would GENERALLY recommend (variations can exist) relacing the specific glove sections in the following order...
   
   1) - Webbing
   
   2) - Fingers PLUS Web Spiral
   
   3) - Palm
   
   4) - Hand Opening
   
   5) - Pinky & Thumb 

Resources To Use During A Relace

• Dirty 30's Leather & Lace
  • This guy is a true blessing to the baseball glove DIY'ers out there. His instruction is second to none as he goes through his tutorials slowly while providing assistance visually and audibly.  He has close to 30 videos uploaded to YouTube that provide instruction on how to relace many different sections of gloves. Visit the How-To section on Dirty 30 YouTube page and you should be able to find a video dedicated to just about any part of a glove or mitt that you may be trying to fix. Check out his instruction below on how to relace an H-Web:
    
    
• Durham Glove Repair
  
  • This individual is a YouTuber just like Dirty 30 mentioned above. Durham Glove Repair is going to provide visual instruction on how to relace gloves. And where Dirty 30's instruction can be a little more general regarding patterns of gloves, Durham Glove Repair will provide tutorials for specific patterns from different manufacturers (i.e. Rawlings Heart of the Hide 31 Pattern, Wilson A2000 1786, etc...). However, his videos will move much more quickly than Dirty 30's and won't provide as much audible help.

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We hope that we helped you get going on your glove relacing project! If you have more questions, please do not hesitate to reach out to our team of Glove Experts. They can be reached on phone at 866-321-2287, via email at experts@justgloves.com or by LIVE CHATTING right here! Remember that JustGloves is always working to be experts on gloves and we'll be here for you from Click To Catch!