New traps again

Whenever I acquire traps during trapping season I just clean and set. By next season they are pretty much covered in rust. I’ll take 50/50 vinegar and water and soak them a couple of days, and out comes brand new looking traps again. Now time to dye and wax. Just a comparison pic...

Wanna be are those traps dyed and waxed. If so does it take the wax off

The trap on the left looks perfect for dye and wax.

Maybe but it does look like it has not been neutralized.If not,you have trouble.

Boiling in a tannic solution serves 2 purposes without a caustic chemical that can weaken the steel. It transfers rust to a rust resistant surface and the boiling kills any bacteria from saliva and such. I never remove old wax to soiled traps , just boil then rewax. And no boiling doesn't weaken steel, as long as ya don't boil all the water out. New traps get dishwasher cycle then just wax. But if ya trap within 50 miles of me please do what ya want,

Some of the traps were new out of the box then cleaned and set last year. Some were dyed and waxed and showed some wear and rust. They all went in the buckets and come out shiny new. I’m buying grocery store distilled vinegar, lol. No neutralizing necessary. Been doing this the last couple of years without issue. Just pull and rinse in a dawn soap bucket then spray them off. Of course there are those more knowledgeable than I am, was just posting incase someone had a few old rusty traps lying around they wanted to clean up.

That is the old trap before he put it in vinegar.

I use to do that rusting and dyeing then waxing thing. Then I figured why rust a trap If your just going to remove the rust with a dye bath then cover the dye with wax.
So with new canine traps I remove the factory oil and wax. After the season Is over I power wash and then wax.
Every other trap I just dip In latex paint.

I think I confused folks sorry Wanna Be.

You see what he did was remove that light coat of rust with the vinegar so he can dye and wax them,,,, where as I meant they was no need to remove any rust before dying and waxing. (unless it was thick scaly chipping off rust. A light coat of rust works to your advantage, when dying, to color the traps. (which is very beneficial if your traps get exposed by wind or weather or if you set them intentionally exposed).

No neutralizing necessary. Been doing this the last couple of years without issue. Just pull and rinse in a dawn soap bucket then spray them off.[/quote]
Rinsing them in any type of soap (alkaline) will neutralize the ACID (vineger) bath you put them in.

Nah, you said it right. I don’t mind a light coat of rust if I’m going to dye them first, but some looked like they were found in the bottom of a pond, lol. I seem to always get traps for Christmas or my birthday (January) and don’t have time to dye or wax, so I just clean them and set them. By the end of May or June they start looking a little rough, so the vinegar dip is applied.

The dye works better on rust than clean steel is my understanding

They start rusting again as soon as you rinse them. I’m trying something new this year with walnut hulls, I let y’all know if it works out.

I used to do the same here, but now I live in Nevada and my canine traps double as exposed bobcat set traps so dying will be necessary