If you don’t know me, I’m new to all of this so I decided to go with FMJ because of my limited amount of traps and the ease of the procedure.

With that being said, I was loaned 2 dozen traps which had a rather thick coating of wax on them. I have them boiling on my gas range on the 80,000 BTU Burner. I bring them to a rolling boil and let that go for about 10 minutes. I can see that a ton of wax has floated to the top. Next I added water until everything washed away and then I dump the water to retrieve my traps.

When taking the traps out I noticed that they’re still somewhat slick and somewhat slimy. They are leaving a crappy black residue on my gloves. My question is, if this is still some wax do I need to reboil the traps to remove the remaining wax or since I’m dipping in FMJ can I just roll with what I’ve got?

I'd get some lye or was removal stuff and boil again. FMJ won't hold like it should if there is still a soft surface (wax) still there.

What is lye, and other than trapping supply companies, where can I get it?

I wouldn't boil chemicals like lye in the house, pretty nasty fumes.

You can get it at hardware stores. Might have to ask at the counter as it is a restricted bitem these days thanks to the methheads.

Thanks guys. And thank you ADC. I don’t have a propane burner so I’m just boiling the wax off to dip. Maybe I’ll just boil them again to see if the rest will come off.

I have the second dozen on now. I think that I’ll let them boil for about 15-30 minutes to see if that does a better job

Lye is a very strong akali(opposite of acid) that is very caustic. Old days is was derived from leeching wood ashes.

I guess that I’ll just try to keep it simple and safe, something that I can actually handle. Although it’s not time efficient I’ll just continue boiling them until they come clean.

You can get Muriatic Acid at pool supply places. It will clean them right up with out boiling. Use it OUTSIDE! It does it quick too, like minutes.

https://www.walmart.com/ip/Klean-Strip-G...13=&veh=sem

Really? Wow, how easy that’d be. I’ll have to look into how to do it, etc... Maybe due to the light layer which remains it’ll come off in no time at all

I've only used it once myself. It really cleaned up the traps fast. There are guys here with more experience with it that I'm sure can be of help in the how to dept.

I appreciate your input ADC

If the residue seems oily, I’d try a solvent like mineral spirits or gasoline. Or even a good dose of dish soap. If you use anything caustic (acid or alkaline) remember that you have to neutralize it and rinse very well or it will corrode your traps. FYI, muriatic acid is also available from building & concrete supply stores, as it’s used to clean and remove concrete.

Thanks Kid, I'll keep that in mind. Perhaps I'll wash with Dawn and then boil once again if needed. I left a dozen on the stove last night, it's still there. Maybe I'll skim the wax off of the top and just turn it on again to boil before I dump the water and take the traps out.

If I loaned you or anyone else traps that I had already waxed and you removed the wax to use a plastic coating or used acid or lye on my traps, there might be some pay back involved. physical compensation maybe.

Ask the trap owner what he/she wants done with them.!

Completely understood. We’d previously spoke about this to which was spoken that if the owner was unhappy with the end result I would trade these traps for 2 brand new dozen. Much like me, my friend is new and we’re both trying to find our way in the trapping game. FMJ just seems too easy for the amount of traps which we have and for the volume of our trapping.

I thank you for your advice. I would most certainly never do such a thing without permission.

The simplest solution is to rewax them.Done correctly,there will be no heavy coating.

I boiled them twice with the second time allowing them to boil for 30 minutes. When I pulled them out I thought that I’d had the problem licked. WRONG!!!! There’s still paint drops of wax here and there as well as all over the pan.

Is this normal? I thought that by boiling the traps that the wax would come off. That doesn’t seem to be the case.

Are you sure it's wax? I have cleaned and dyed and waxed some pretty nasty traps that were given to me and I boiled the most of the wax off then I soaked them in the purple power cleaner and it worked well and can be found most places.

It's normal.Some will tell you it will all rise to the top and you are done.That hasn't been my experience and I've waxed traps for a long time.Let them cool and spritz some water on them and you wil see it bead up.If you rewax them,you don't need to get it all off.