Every football that you will see thrown on Saturdays in college football and on professional games on Sundays are prepped, conditioned and mudded for protection and optimal performance. It's time to learn the industry kept secret from a professional quarterback himself, who has been in the room when the balls were prepped and have prepped multiple balls that are used for training in the offseason.
FOOTBALL PREP GUIDE - STEP BY STEP
REMOVING THE RED DYE
Rub roughly a half dollar sized amount of shaving creme evenly over the football. Make sure the ball is evenly coated.
Let the ball sit for 5-10 minutes while the red dye is striped away.
Using a bristle bush (Preferably the Wilson Football Prep brush), brush the ball to remove the shaving creme.
Prepare the ball and mud
Mix the mud after opening to even out any moisture. Scrub each panel on the ball for 3-5 minutes to remove any debris, wax, lacker, etc.
Recommended: Use a Wilson brush and gloves.
Applying the mud to the football
Apply a decent layer of mud to each panel while avoiding the holes around the laces. In a circular motion, push mud deep in the pebbles of the ball for best result.
Let the mud dry for roughly 24 hours. The ball should not be damp. This help soften the leather and get the leather color darker.
Removing the Mud
WANT A DARKER TONE?
APPLY CONDITIONER
Use a leather conditioner to clean, condition and seal leather for use. This helps remove the chalky look after mudding.
Let the ball sit for the leather conditioner to set into the ball for roughly 30 minutes.
We recommend "Leather Honey" conditioner found over at Catalina Football Mud.
Add tack spray and brush
Using the Wilson Football Tack spray, spray one sprits of the tack spray over the football and using the brush, scrub in a circular motion, back and forth to allow the tack spray to set into the ball.
If you have any comments, suggestions or want to see videos of this ball process, please leave a comment and check out this video:
