As a kid when you got a new baseball glove there was a ritual you followed to break it in and make it ready to use. First you would apply either Saddle Soap or Neatsfoot Oil to the glove. (Usually too much of either.) Then you would rub it in (to the glove) for hours on end. Next you would place a baseball (or softball) in the pocket of the glove and wrap it tightly with as many rubber bands as you could find. Great neighborhood debates ensued as to the relative merits of daily applications of more soap or oil and then re-wrapping the mitt each night or just to apply the softener for a few days in a row and then wrap the glove and leave it untouched for a few days to a few weeks.