Why even dye. It really serves no purpose.

I’m going to go out on a limb here and suggest something both simple and effective. Clean traps in a bucket of warm water and Dawn dish soap to remove oils. Rinse, dry for a day and spray paint the color you want. I have at this point used them as is. Or dipped in wax. Or used Full Metal Jacket. I’ve also dipped in speed dip after cleaning but that takes a while to lose the gasoline smell—-but it works. The days of boiling for hours, hot dipping in wax, etc for the sake of tradition are over for me. I’ve got better things to do with my time.

I use to just wax my traps and no dye. But now since I found the real deal Black dye I don't wax. This year 304 coyotes thought it was cool not to wax!!!

I use to just wax my traps and no dye. But now since I found the real deal Black dye I don't wax. This year 304 coyotes thought it was cool not to wax!!!

I still paint (latex) all my traps other then canine traps. The paint holds up pretty good. I might re do them every 4 years or so. It's fast and cheap.

I never get why people say dyeing takes time.You just put them in the pot,then go work on something else.Come back in 1 hour and pull them out.It takes no more time than dipping,Put in,take out.You don't sit there and stare at them boiling.If you dip more than once,it can take more time than traditional dye.You are missing the point if you think dyeing and waxing is for the sake of tradition.If it is done properly,and from what I've seen,often it isn't,it holds up very well,is cheap,non toxic and non flammable.

I've set rusty trap, dyed and waxed,waxed only, dipped etc and a good dye job followed by a proper wax job holds up best and isn't a lot of work.Another thing many don't understand is that you don't have to dye and wax all the traps every year.I have gone several years between treatments.I only dye and wax new traps and ones that made catches and are shined up.Often,after a catch,they still don't need it.

Let's face it,these days with all the devices and conveniences we have,people have short attention spans and want everything done at warp speed,especially new trappers.Trapping is work.Traps may need to stay in a pot for one hour,to dye but that's chronological time,not one hour's labor.If you can't find some work to busy yourself with for an hour,you are more fortunate than me.Just my opinion after 57 years of handling traps.These days there are many ways to treat traps.Dyeing and waxing is just one of them.Other than maintaining a flame,it isn't a lot different than other methods.