When Should You Replace Your Baseball Glove Laces?

A broken baseball glove lace never happens at a good time. One inning your glove feels fine, the next it’s falling apart. The good news is glove laces usually show warning signs long before they break.

Knowing when to replace your baseball glove laces can save you from missed outs, lost games, and expensive glove replacements.

Signs Your Baseball Glove Laces Need to Be Replaced

Fraying or fuzzy glove laces

If your glove laces look fuzzy, cracked, or flattened, the leather is wearing down. Fraying is one of the earliest signs that your glove lace is losing strength.

Pay close attention to high stress areas like the pocket, web, and hinge. These spots fail first.

Loose pocket or web

A glove that won’t hold its shape often has stretched or worn glove laces. Weak laces allow the pocket to collapse and the web to shift, making it harder to secure the ball.

If your glove feels sloppy or inconsistent, the laces are usually the issue.

Stiff or brittle glove laces

Healthy glove laces should be flexible. If they feel stiff or brittle, the leather is dried out and close to snapping.

Cold weather makes brittle glove laces break even faster, which is why many laces fail early in the season.

Cracking or discoloration

Dark spots, cracks, or a chalky appearance mean the glove lace leather is breaking down. Conditioning can slow the process, but once cracks appear, replacement is the safer option.

One broken lace is a warning

If one glove lace breaks, the rest are not far behind. When a single lace fails, stress shifts to the surrounding laces, increasing the risk of more breaks.

Replacing all the glove laces at once is usually more reliable than fixing one at a time.

How Often Should You Replace Baseball Glove Laces?

How often you need to replace baseball glove laces depends on how much the glove is used.

• Youth baseball players: every 2 to 3 seasons

• High school and travel baseball players: every season or every other season

• Heavy use players (Catchers/First Basemen): inspect glove laces mid-season

Regular inspection helps prevent in-game failures.

Why Quality Baseball Glove Lace Matters

Not all baseball glove lace is the same. Lower quality lace stretches more, dries out faster, and breaks sooner. High quality leather glove lace holds tension, keeps pocket shape, and extends the life of your glove.

A proper glove relace can make a broken-in glove feel game ready again without starting over with a new glove.

Final Takeaway

Baseball glove laces rarely fail without warning. Fraying, looseness, stiffness, and cracking are all signs it’s time to replace your glove laces.

Relacing your glove costs far less than buying a new one and keeps your glove performing the way it should.

If you need baseball glove lace or a professional glove relacing service, order one right here. We do this every day.