I didn’t think I’d have any time to trap this winter. I was wrong. I did no trap prep this fall. This week Took traps to car wash and pressure washed cleaned after I soaked in vinegar water for a few days. Have left air drying for a few days. Should I try to dye and wax or just skip it this year.

Traps are mb550. Temps here running around freezing. No place to put them in the heat. Only been trapping 3 years thanks for your time

In my experience, one of the main reasons trap prep is done is to instill confidence in the set more than anything else. The trapper wants to know he has done everything he can do to help the set catch. I think confidence is important.

Another reason I do all the prep work is to go trapping before I go trapping. It is part of the anticipation of trapping. Like packing for a hunting trip or tying flies before a fishing trip.

I also like to look at all my traps all black and shiny with wax. Each little soldier lined up hanging in the breeze ready to go to work. It is satisfying.

Nostalgia for another time in the past is another reason we prep traps. It is what the old timers did. It is like being past of the past.

But all that said, you’d probably be fine to just set them out in the weather a few days. Maybe wash them off each day with a water hose. Then go set them. They’ll function just fine and catch animals.

I bought 2 dozen Duke 450’s last spring, never got to dying and waxing but I have some out working right now. I figure a little weathering will just help them out next year to take the dye process better. So yes just set them they wont catch anything in the garage.

wws

Waxing and dying also helps with the scent control process. There’s times when an unprepped trap will hold scent in the rust and fox will dig those right up. All in all, you’ll be alright to set them. Maximize your attention to detail in what you touch before handling your traps to limit odor transference. Good luck and tight chains!

Wax makes scent control worse. Wax holds odor. That's why guys were always paranoid about touching traps.

Only thing for odor control wax does is prevent rusting. Which goes away the first time you make a catch.

Was it me, just wax them and use. Taps hanging in the shed can't catch crap, other than bird that is!

Spray paint is great for emergency trap prep.

I will never die and wax a trap ever again. Wax is horrible for holding scents. If I get a trap with blood and such on it, I just rinse it off in a water hole. If you are in a hurry a rattle can of rusty metal primer. If you have time acetone mixed with rusty metal primer will last a couple of seasons and, the scent goes away quicky if you hang them in the sun to dry. If you can't do anything to them just throw them on the trapline and go for it. Its trapping, not rocket science.

Water traps I run new for a bit until they rust enough to hold paint, (all my conibears start life in the water somewhere and become a land trap after paint if that's their destiny) for my footholds I'm using on land I use vinegar water to get some rust going and clean off the grease, then I spray them white and let them hang on a tree on the back corner of my property (as far from my cabin and any foreign odors as possible) and I leave them there for a year. After that I wax or use FMJ. In your current position, I'd just dip in FMJ to try to seal in any smell they already have, and then keep them as clean as possible

I high pressure wash and wax.

I use to use dogwood & clear wax. Read recently about boiling traps in fir branches, no wax. Thinking about giving that a try. I think as long as you got the factory oil off @ the car wash you should be fine for a season.. set em & get fur in yur shed

These traps are clean and been used for a couple years. I just didn’t re dye them this year and wax they are going in the ground this week. Thanks guys.

Yeah they should be fine. But you can boil/dye them and wax and go set immediately. Unlike paint or the petroleum dips. If I get a catch in a canine trap I will reset that trap there, but if I pull it to go somewhere else I will take it home and boil it. I don't bother with dyeing those traps midseason, or usually waxing them. They get boiled and go back out on the line the next day, clean and odor free. If I am for some reason prepping a bunch of traps midseason I will often wax them, but if I am just doing a couple traps that made catches and are getting moved I don't bother waxing. Also, boiling painted traps won't bother them a bit, I do it regularly, I can't speak for the petroleum dips because I never use them.

I would definitely atleast dye them especially after using vinegar. I'm not a believer in the sent control part of dye and wax, but do dye my traps for the REAL reason dyeing traps was done from the beginning. Dyeing traps is done to protect the metal on the trap. The acids in dye chemically reacts with the metal, making a protective coat to reduce rusting. If you soaked them in vinegar, you have just excellerated the rusting process. Wax takes on smell more than the metal so it also is not a way to remove scent. Wax is used as a water repellent and lubricant for the trap. So waxing can help, especially in cold and wet climates, but it won't make or break your season. A heavily rusted trap will. It slows down you trap, can seize your trap, and eats away at the metal

I was in this position a few years back. Didn't think I'd be able to trap that season, had no real place to do trap prep (no garage, no shop, lived in town, couldn't realistically be boiling/dyeing traps out on the sidewalk, etc). Fell into an unused shop that I was given access to probably late Nov / early Dec and decided to make a run at it. I remember running a small turkey fryer to boil/dye traps in early December and I have this vivid memory of doing a boil/dye session in the dark with light snowflakes coming down but managed to make it work. Instead of hanging traps to dry outside like I normally would in the warmer months, I hung them on a makeshift stand in the shop with a couple fans circulating air. Probably took a day or two longer but they came out just fine. Caught a handful of coyotes in Dec/Jan that season, much later in the year than I usually would chase them but I was happy, the landowners were happy, and the traps worked great. Make a run at it, it's always worth it. I'd do it again.