I am looking for information on trap cleaning and if traps are painted how ling before use. I couldn't find anything in search. Maybe because I didn't know how to use it.

You just wanting to clean…soak in Dawn dish soap for a day, rinse well.
If you’re wanting them looking like they came out of the box when you bought them soak in vinegar for a day or so…rinse well.

Just want to add if you go the vinegar route, soak overnight in baking soda water to neutralize the vinegar acid.

Then rinse well

Power wash depending on condition or cement mixer if in rough shape.

Can you buy vinegar that’s that powerful? Most store bought vinegar is diluted anyways. Being doing it for 3 years now and just a good rinse seems to be working.

I have had some traps that were painted and soaked them in 50/50 water vinegar mix for a couple of days and power washed them and they look like new when I was fished.

it will even take powder coating off traps...

Even weaker acids will degrade and eat away trap metal if given enough time.

You might be okay with a very good water rinse, but water doesn't neutralize acid (unless it's high alkaline)...Water does dilute acid, but any acid you miss (like say in between spring coils) will just keep on eating.

While leaving traps soaking in vinegar for to long a time will cause readily apparent damage, the residual acid damage that is caused by lack of neutralization might go unnoticed at first, just worsens with time.

Baking Soda = "cheap insurance".

^^^^^^^^ read carefully ^^^^^^^^

I read carefully. is there something else I need to know?

The trap cleaning part has been covered pretty well. You also mentioned how soon traps can be used after painting. Hang them outside a day or two and you're good to go.

I use PBW which is a brewer’s wash. Just recently one of the members here told me it was actually Oxyclean but I don’t know, I do know it’s THE BEST thing I’ve ever used to clean my traps of anything organic! I have a couple videos published on Youtube showing my use of it.

If you're wanting to clean dirt and mud off of em.....put about 12 in a cement mixer with blasting grit or small gravel.

If I want rusty traps to look like new traps, I put them in a bucket and fill it with cheap white vinegar. I let it sit a day, 2 days, maybe...when I take one out and can wipe it clean or it’s clean looking, I dump out the whole bucket and rinse them with a hose. Then I put a box or even a huge box of baking soda in the bucket (it’s CHEAP) and fill with water. I dunk all the traps in this solution. So far, doing it this way has not failed me a single time, so, since baking soda is what, a dollar a box, I’ll keep doing it this way.


I will say I’ve bought some used longsprings that were absolutely eaten up. I had to believe they’d been left in vinegar too long, not properly cleaned, or both. I never bothered using them, they’re too far gone.



If I want to clean brand new traps so that I can paint dip them, I run mine through the dishwasher on hot, tough scrub with detergent. Hasn’t let me down yet. I will run a second, empty cycle if I needed to clean it up for some reason.

I'm in trying to get rust off I have a buck of muric acid and a bucket of baking soda water


Stuff won't touch wax or paint though

Lye cleans really well but doesn’t react with rust. Vinegar will clean the rust but must be neutralized immediately after with baking soda. Logwood dye or similar will reduce the rust into FeO and stop further rusting until they get wet again. Dip or wax will further slow rusting. Paint dip will do an even better job.

I second what Mike says. I took a tip from him on using PBW and it does work great!

I’ll be trying this as well.

I might have ruined my traps. I soaked them in Murick acid for a short time then dipped them in a strong solution of baking soda and water. They did come out clean .

Why do you think you ruined them?