First Time Relacing: The Tools For Success

So you want to relace your own baseball or softball glove? Are you feeling overwhelmed? Do you feel like maybe you have no idea what you are doing? Does relacing seem like it’s too daunting of a task? Well, I am telling you that you are wrong, respectfully of course. I am telling you that, contrary to popular belief, you have the abilities to relace a baseball or softball glove. But, what you might not have are all of the tools and equipment that are required to do this. Let me help you get set up for success!

Let me give you some background on myself. My name is Cody. I have been relacing and fixing baseball and softball gloves for the past six or seven years. I am a certified re-lacer by companies such as Mizuno, Wilson, and Rawlings. I have been around baseball and softball my entire life, and still am. I have always had an infatuation with cleaning and making things better. When I say things, I am talking about vehicles, motorcycles, sporting equipment, electronics, you name it. Taking an item, and making it not only cleaner, but making it better has always been a hobby of mine. This is why relacing gloves and mitts just really clicked with me. When I first learned how to relace, I was terrible. When I say terrible, I mean TERRIBLE. But just like anything else, the more I did it, the better I got. I have come to realize that one of the main reasons I was able to learn quickly was because I was set up for success and was supplied with all of the correct tools. I learned with a custom relacing kit that came straight from Mizuno Japan. It was the exact same kit that the Japanese Mizuno glove masters have. Was I lucky to have access to these tools? You bet your butt I was lucky. This is exactly why I want YOU to have the exact tools you need to be able to relace a glove easily. Relacing can be extremely tough without the right tools.

The first step of relacing is to get the old lace out of the glove. I want to tell you this first and foremost. If this is your first time relacing, use the cut and follow method. This means, cut and pull the old lace out of one hole, and push the new lace through the hole you just pulled out of. Ok, now that we got that out of the way, you need to remove the old lace out of the glove. The best tool to use for cutting lace out are a set of Japanese florist scissors.  These things are small enough to get into tight spaces and can cut lace with ease. These are the only scissors I use and trust when relacing a glove. Other scissors are too big and bulky to get into the tight spaces of a glove.

The next tool, probably the most important one, is a lacing needle. I personally don’t like using the traditional “pull tool”. I would rather use a lacing needle. They are much more nimble and easier to navigate throughout the relacing process. I feel they are much quicker due to the fact you can go through multiple holes on the glove at once. It’s also much easier to track where you need to go, or the next spot the lace will need to go through. My personal favorite relacing needle is the Red Hawk Tannery Glove Lacing Needle Tool. This specific needle is 5” in length, making it easy to get into the tight spaces that are required to lace the palm, pinky, and thumb. The thing I like the most about this needle is that it is threaded on the end. To attach lace to this bad boy, you just snip the end of the lace to make a nice little angled taper. At that point, you just twist the lace into the end of the needle. It should hold very firmly to where you can’t pull the lace out with a slight tug. Even if you have been relacing for years, you will want to use a needle over anything else. It’s just much simpler, and quite frankly, much faster.

Another tool that you’re going to need is a set of pliers. The best kinds of pliers to use are needle nose with a smooth, un-ribbed finish. You want to use needle nose because you will need to be able to get into tricky little spots on the inside of the glove. For instance, when you’re removing lace from the palm, you have to be able to get into the inside of the glove. The only pliers that will do the job are needle nose pliers. You want a smooth finish on the arms because a typical set of ribbed pliers will make imprints and possibly rip the lace.

Glove lace is what holds an entire glove or mitt together. So I shouldn’t have to tell you how important it is to use high quality lace when you embark on your relacing journey. Glove lace traditionally comes in two different widths. It will come in ¼” and 3/16”. You will find yourself using the 3/16” most of the time, as this is the standard size glove lace. I personally will only use ¼” glove lace when I am relacing a catcher’s mitt pocket, or the pocket of a 1^st basemen’s mitt. The reason I prefer to use ¼” on these specific areas is because a catcher’s and 1^st basemen’s mitt constantly receive hard throws. At both of these positions, the last thing you need is a lace to snap on your pocket. The ¼” lace will withstand the constant abuse these mitts receive game after game. You can use 3/16” lace for these areas, but I would rather be safe than sorry and just use the ¼”. A typical glove, outfield or infield will take 3-4 strands of lace. A trapeze will take 5 pieces, and a 1^st base and catcher’s mitt will also need 5.

So now you have all of your tools. You’ve decided on what size of lace you want. So you go to purchase lace, and now you have no idea what brand of lace to buy. Sure, you could buy lace from a no-name company on Amazon. I don’t blame you, it’s probably really cheap and seems like a great deal. Well, when you buy that lace, just plan on relacing that same glove again very soon. At least you’ll get to practice your relacing skills, am I right? Here’s the deal, do not skimp on the glove lace. A glove is no good without quality lace. Like I said, it’s what holds the entire thing together. The only glove lace I ever use, and will ever use, is the Red Hawk Tannery Glove Lace. This is my favorite lace because it’s the best quality I’ve ever felt. It’s made from Holstein Hides and seems to have the highest strength and durability I’ve ever tested. Not to mention, the color options are endless. Typically, a colorful lace will tend to be a lot weaker and snap easier because of all the dye that gets put into them. I don’t know how, but the bright, colorful Red Hawk laces are actually as strong as the regular tan lace. The two other brands I’ve used before are Mizuno and Tanner’s lace. These are great laces that get the job done. But like I said, I will take the Red Hawk lace over anything else.

I hope this helped you figure out the correct tools you need to conquer the art of relacing. I see so many videos on YouTube of little tips and tricks on relacing. But nobody ever tells you the tools you need. Relacing is just like playing baseball or softball; there’s many ways of how to do it, but there are specific items you need to do it. I want you to succeed in your relacing journey. I personally know that in order to do that, you have to have the tools.

-Cody