I think if i was going to paint my traps i would paint them cat yellow, we got a new 950 m cat loader at work starting to like yellow.
For industrial jobs yellow beats green lol

If you're trapping on farms, the farmer may be more likely to give you permission if your traps match his John Deere tractors!

I paint and fmj all my traps holds up good. No issues catching coyotes or fox. I paint them around the end of July let them dry and air out till the end of August. Then I'll dip them in fmj and hang them up till season starts.

Looking good!

If you bury them, they could be pink and the critters wouldn’t worry about them.

I dip in paint and acetone . After that's dry dip in floor wax or FMJ. For 3 years I did half with hot wax and half with FMJ and had no difference in my catch.

There Is so much waste when spray painting. I would rather dip in some type of paint.

Very true my daughter paints a few pink, gold, and purple. We do some even in rainbow. Just a fun way to spend time with each other I guess.

I used a Hong Kong freight portable sand blaster and cleaned the rust and dye off of 6 #2 dogless, 3 #5 bridgers and all 6 of my dp’s and painted them last Tuesday. The #5’s got painted with a flat camo green krypton and I used a matte black rustoleum on the rest. They all still smell like paint but it’s going away.

I’m not sure if I’ll paint anymore or not. I’ve got a bumper crop of green walnuts.

In my opinion dye gives you No protection. It looks good but that's about It.

I think the tannic acid in logwood dye, walnuts, oak leaves... reacts with rust and is supposed to convert it to iron tannate which is supposed to be stable and stop any further rust.

^^ This is true...The tannins in the natural dyes convert the rust, and the wax seals it.

The old way is still the best 1, 2, punch, IMO.

While waiting for my painted traps to air out, rust started coming through the paint. I guess I should have blasted them more thoroughly. Glad I only painted 6.

I also tested "cold dyeing" two traps using green walnuts. They've been hanging only one day less than the painted traps and have no rust showing.

Based on this experience I'll probably be dying and waxing the rest of my traps (just ordered 5 lbs).

I think paint is an entirely viable coating but obviously the trap has to be completely free of deep rust. The three #5's that only had mild surface rust look fine.

Using a good acid etching primer will help eliminate rust from bleeding through. Using Rustolium paint can help delay rust from bleeding through as well but in the end rust will win.

I remember when I hot dyed my traps. As soon as they came out of the dye they began to rust. Now I just wax or have my traps powder coated.

Where do you get this done and how much does it cost to do per trap or per dozen. Also what are the steps you have to take thanks

Well I know a guy who knows a guy. You know how that goes right. But you should be able to find some place that does It. It Is expensive if you don't have an In. For the most part you should start out with new traps or at least well cleaned traps like having them sand blasted. Powder coating doesn't work so good on rusted surfaces.
If I didn't have this In I probably wouldn't be doing It.

Ok thanks I know a place that does it but I have no ins

What the heck were you dyeing them with? I have used mainly alder bark, but I have also used walnut hulls a few years. Now my footholds I always wax, but I don't wax my bodygrips and they are good for at least two years before they start to show rust. I usually do my traps after every season, but I don't usually do any footholds that haven't caught anything and often only do my bodygrips every couple years (I use bodygrips for water sets and marten, nothing that would shy away from a dirty trap). Just don't see a need to do them any more often, because the dye keeps them from rusting.

I totally agree with ya there