We have been dying and waxing traps for years with no problems. I have some traps stored in 1 gallon zip lock bags inside plastic totes or 5 gallon buckets that look just about like they did when I put them there. Last October we did about 20 dozen traps in the usual way, boiling in a barrel with lye and water for 30 minutes or more, then rinsing and boiling in dye using logwood powder for 30 minutes or more. The traps were then shaken to remove excess water and dipped in wax that was about 240 degrees. The water that was still on the traps turned to steam in the wax bucket and “boiled off” (or so we thought). The traps were hung and allowed to cool for several hours then placed in sealed plastic zip lock bags. I checked on some of these traps that were not set last year because we are getting ready to do our traps this year. I found that the traps were significantly rusted and will need to be re done. No idea why they are rusted. Did we use too much lye? Have moisture trapped beneath the wax? The traps were stored at three different sheds because each guy took his traps home. All the traps rusted regardless of where they were stored.

Anyone have any idea what may have happened?

… all mine will rust some if stored over the year… especially with humidity we have here … I just set them with no issues

I do mine a few weeks before the season starts to avoid scent and storage problems. If they were waxed you might of got too thin of a wax coating if the traps were so hot the wax dripped off of them. Plastic holds moisture I’ve never bagged any traps I just put in storage containers outside away from stinky things until I need them.

I believe it's the plastic bags too

I have traps done years before that are stored in plastic bags inside of plastic totes and they look black and shiny with no rust. Just last year’s are rusting.

Did you rinse the lye of before dying?

We did rinse the lye off before putting into the dye. Just maybe not enough? Used a garden hose. But maybe not thoroughly enough?

Did you rinse the traps AFTER they were removed from the DYE? If not, chances are they had some residual acid (tannic acid from the dye) on the surface and as Law Dog mentioned, the plastic trapped a tiny amount of moisture/humidity in the sealed plastic bag. When the acid residue mixed with the humidity in the bag (even with the coat of wax), oxidation or the air moisture (H2O) supplied the O2 to the tiny amount of tannin residue occurred and you got some acid coating that chemically converted the iron/steel of the trap to a type of iron oxide (rust). Traps in the eastern part of the U.S. are more susceptible to RUST due to higher humidities and acidic soils than in the drier cooler climates of the west. Don't think you are the only one to discover this on boiling traps as the old fashioned BLACK LOGWOOD CRYSTALS were higher in tannic acid and if you didn't neutralise and rinse it off your traps could rust a little every year if you hung them in high moisture areas. A simple dip in a 5 gal. mix of water and baking soda will neutralize any acid residue. Then rinse it and let dry. If you use the plastic bag sealing storage trying to keep those traps in areas of cooler temps during the hot summer and a dry day rather than a cool moist evening to seal them will help solve the potential for rusting. My Take over way too many mistakes in this trap prep life. ...................................the mike

Why the lye ? Never understood different tub for the wax. I just put the wax in the log wood dye tub. As you pull them out they get coated. But people do things differently. Whatever works for you. But looks like that didn’t work.....

JB, I do mine the same as you and it works.

X2 don’t give an animal to much credit for being smart . Think of it this way if you run coyote sets for a month look at the condition of your traps and those are still catching.

Putting the wax in with the dye,
that scum a top the dye gets into the wax.
And straight wax makes a much better coating.
Some like just wax, just dye, both.
I know, some guys do not care lol.

I see you shook of the water before waxing. Maybe all moisture wasn't evaporated from the metal surface.

Traps need to be dry in order to NOT cover over moisture still on the surface.

Also, I wouldn't store, sealed in a plastic bag. An open bucket or hung up will work just fine.

Yeah, I hear you guys that pull through the wax on top. Keep doing it if you like it.

I like my traps bone dry after dying and before waxing. I hang them on the sunny side of the barn to dry.It especially takes some time to get it dry in the coilsprings

^x2, I was taught To never mix water and wax when dipping.