Treating new traps

Hello i am new to trapping and was not sure the best way to get a light coating of rust on traps before dying them so the dye will stick. I have heard to spray with vinegar or lemon juice? Any insight would be appreciated.

Boil them in a lye based cleaner first to remove all the factory oil. Then leave them outside for a few days. Vinegar will remove old rust.

Just boil and wax them after a season of use they’ll be plenty rusty for next season to take a dye.

Some people have run new traps through a dishwasher cycle. Think I would try to remove any oil first, but it should work. I have a handmade knife made by someone on Trapperman. The knife always comes out rusted.

Rust hurts springs. The goal is not to dye the new traps, just degrease and wax them. Boiling in dye is not necessary if there is no rust. As others mentioned, next season they will have some rust and the dye will catch and reduce it to black iron II oxide.

I imagine it slows them down & weakens them

Speed dip would probably work fine too

.... run through dish washer with soap 1 cycle... run again with no soap... they’ll be degreased at that point (usually a light coat of rust already)

I'd rather do trap prep outside than where I wash dishes

I wash my new traps at the car wash. Tie chains together and hang from clamps provided for floor mats. Power wash with soap setting a few times and then rinse with clean water. Oil gone.

welcome remove oil and let sit outside , for a few days to a week then dye them ,