I boiled traps for decades Wont ever again. Kinda fun...but a huge waste of time. Wash, wax, plant.

But whatever floats your boat....just know it's not necessary.

It's just as easy for me to boil traps in my basement as it is to gather them up and head to the car wash. Knocks the old wax off and preps them for a new dose. It's therapeutic to me and cheaper than a psychiatrist.

Where do most of you do your boiling...perhaps in your yard over some bricks embedded in the ground?

Only place I find lye around here is Amish stores.

With the hundreds of cooties in animal fluids, I'll keep boiling.
I have sprayed and go mid/late season a few times, and did not have confidence.

I scald my knives in bleach water too. I know that infection can be bad.

If I did not have time for this prep, I'd have to rethink the whole trapping thing.

Lots of methods work, confidence is king.

And no, I do not think for one second that a boiled and waxed trap is scent invisible.

I have a question for lye users. Must say I did use lye to clean trap for many many years. It does an admirable job cleaning traps. After boiling in lye, I used to dump the water, I would drench the area with a hose to hopefully dilute it. Then just forgot about it.
Then when I had more dogs running around I got to thinking it may harm them somehow if the got in on their paws etc.
Maybe nothing to worry about but I did and stopped using lye.
What do you lye using folks say? Is it at all dangerous to dispose of?

If you just boil in water it seems to take forever and a day to get the wax off.
I have had very good luck using Wax-Be-Gone, a product Blackie came out with.
We do not have walnut trees around but those sound like they clean traps up pretty good.
Thanks


Mac

this is what I use to boil traps an how to make one I all ways do mine by my shed

I need to get mine going now instead of waiting until season gets here. Lol

think about it you boil trap's to protect them some traps have been around for 100 years or more with only log wood an other natural dye

At this time of year I would use about a half bushel of new maple (or walnut, I have both in my yard and usually the need trimming) leaves in a water bath canner, boil a few minutes, then steep overnight and reheat, then remove the vegetation and cook the traps. What ever pot is used the leaves or berries or hulls need to fill it about half full (or more) before the water is added.
Maple, walnut, oak, chestnut, sumac leaves, birch, alder, hemlock, mimosa all have good amounts of tannin, bark or leaves are best collected in spring.
The red powder that I bought at Cabelas with trapping company name on it did not properly treat my traps, or not to the degree that using leaves has made me expect.
Tannin converts rust (ferrous oxide) and leaves some protection from further rust in the form of ferrous-tannate, at the same time the expansion of the steel from the heat of boiling will cause it to shed any loose flaky rust.
If I cleaned the rust off the traps by acid or blasting or heat I would not boil them afterwards, it would be pointless because the rust is gone- just wax or paint those nice clean traps and be done. De-rusting only to re-rust makes no sense to me.

Both true in as far they go, the tannin treatment isn't necessary (although it may make the traps last three life times rather than one) and the traps will still smell, however the odor of a local tree is not going to have much effect on critters that smell that tree every day.

What my canner looks like, they are sold in many stores and can be found used at yard sales or junk stores sometimes. Holds about 4 gallons of water if full, or about tree gallons of tannin solution and 3-12 traps depending on size.
This fits nicely on my turkey cooker burner.

Maple leaves are just about big enough to use now and in 2-3 weeks the walnut leaves will be big enough, gather the leaves just about 3/4 full size while they are still in growth stage to get best results.