So I’m done for the year. Been a long time since I trapped and messed with this stuff.

I have 60 traps. About half are No BS coated traps that will need a little love. But not much.

The other half will need some attention.
I also have 3 dozen DPs, most of which are still coated but are dirty and rubbed in places.

And then 2 dozen small conibears, 110 and 150s.

I plan to soak in vinegar and power wash to remove as much as possible. Then speed dip. And eventually, wax.

My questions. Do I soak the traps that are already coated? I don’t want to remove what dip or coating is already there.

Do I re-dip the traps that are already coated? Like the No BS traps that are mostly fine?

How many gallons of dip will I need for all these?

And how much wax when I do finally wax them?

Thank you!

Forgot. All 60 coil springs are #2 and #3

i like to wash all traps with a pressure washer in the off season and get them painted or dyed and fix any that may need fixing (broken triggers on bodygrippers) and than set a side a weekend in sept or october to wax and boil

Not a fan of vinegar. If rusty, use Phosphoric acid as it will not attack the bare non oxidized metal like vinegar (acetic acid) will or use tannic acid (the stuff in logwood dye). Some paints have tannic acid in them to stop the rust but are a little pricey. If not that bad rust wise, just coat over your coon traps as the first caught coon will polish a lot of the residue off the metal. My experience. ...................the mike

For coilsprings and other foot traps that are not coated like the No BS traps, I’ve discovered rotating cement mixers and a shovel full of 1/2 to 3/4-inch gravel. Do 1/2 doz at a time**. 5-10 minutes is good enough. Most paint and dip and rust will have been removed. Then coat in whatever trips your trigger. For me, I then dip them in full metal jacket.

** I put a nail or chain link between the jaws. The gravel does a pretty good job when tumbling and the jaw gap then takes the coating material and the FMJ.

Still a dye and wax guy on my land traps. Got started yesterday dying my coyote traps. I’ll get them dyed and waxed and let them hang a couple weeks. Then stored in boxes until next fall. Making repairs as I clean the traps prior to dying.

Building some more snares. They’ll get a boil in baking soda then when the weather warms up I’ll lightly paint them with some camo paints. Grass tan and mud brown. Just lightly to blend with grass and brush.

My water traps are all getting transitioned to paint. Got all my 330s done and some of my foot traps. Not sure if I’ll be able to get out for any beaver and rat trapping before it closes the end of March.

So how much wax does it take to to wax a dozen traps?

A pot of wax is expensive. You need enough to immerse the entire trap to do a good job, in my opinion. When I waxed wolf and wolverine traps, I had a pot with about 30 pounds of wax. With a proper lid and stored away from any possible contaminates and funky smells, wax can be re-used for years, adding whatever gets used up in the dipping process. After I discovered and refined my personal preferred paint mix, (40% Rustoleum/60% acetone) for all my conibears type traps and small foot holds, I still did the logwood dye and wax on the wolf traps. And after 1 season using the NO BS Canine extremes with their almost bullet-proof coating, I also waxed those for wolverine.

As for removing rust, white vinegar has always worked wonders for me, and a quick dip in dissolved arm-and-hammer baking soda to neutralize, then sprayed off with a hose has been my choice.

And like Teacher posted, a nail between the jaws prior to all above treatments is important.