Howdy, a fiend of mine gave me some traps he thought would help on my cat line this year. He asked if it was ok if they needed cleaned and I said no problem.

Here are the traps waiting for the vinegar and water soaking...



After 48 hours of soaking...



Running the dirty water off..



Continued...

After rinse...



Two traps waiting to be brushed...



two traps after brushing...



two cleaned traps...



Rinse water after brushing...


Cleaned and rinsed traps...



Rust starting....





Cleaned traps being taken to hang and finish rusting for the the dye process.



I will try to get pictures of my dye process (using black walnuts) in a day or two. Tom

Here is the link to dying with Black Walnuts, and waxing.

http://www.trapperman.com/forum/ubbthreads.php/topics/1463632.html#Post1463632

Nice!

Don't look like the same traps, do they?

I saw a Sleep Creek CS in a second hand store a while back, the propietor told me it was just a wall hanging, it wasn't old and it couldn't be used because it was rusty and the animals would smell the rust. I bought it, I guess it will look good hanging on my wall. LOL!

man.. no one ever gave me no traps like that...LOL

good post

how much vinigear do you use in that 5 gal bucket?

yep, that vinegar does a dang good job ... good post

Tom - have you tried using a power washer after the soak? I've done the vinegar and cold sani flush soak followed by the brush ... but nowadays I like simplifying whatever I can when I can ... that high pressure water cuts that rust slime etc. right off ... saves a lot of elbow grease

sometimes ya still gotta hit those stubborn spots with a wire brush

Nope not enough water pressure for a power washer here and town is 12 miles away thus the reason the old wire brush is worn down...LOL Only took about 1/2 hour to brush em down anyhow.

I used one gallon of vinegar in a 5 or 6 gallon bucket. Put the traps in, added the vinegar then enough water to cover the traps. Tom

Is that the Cider vinegar or White vinegar?

It was an extra bottle of white vinegar, but I use which ever is less expensive when we get to town. Tom

Thanks

the works toilet bowl cleaner does a better job then vinegar,doesnt take as much and 1 day is gods plenty on a soak,if ya have weak traps it will show ya,just my 2 cents worth.

I use vinegar for safety reasons, don't want the chickens, geese, or dogs getting into what I dump on the ground. Tom

Just checked the traps and they appear to have a nice even coat of rust. Will get the dye pot out after work and see how they look then. Tom

I did that to some #14's and 4's after Using the Car Wash they looked like New Traps...

Excellent Photos, Thanks!

We've been telling you "non-believers" about WHITE VINEGAR for a long time..........

It works on traps (or any other steel item) that has a lot more rust than your traps did too........ The heavier the rust, the longer you leave the article in it to be cleaned. I've left really rusty items in vinegar for over a month. Some of the lighter metal will get "etched" when left it it for a long long time though.

The Car Wash works great after a few days in the vinegar.

If you buy it from the grocery store, it's only about 5% vinegar anyway so it's already been diluted and you can use it straight out of the bottle........

Where else do you buy it (in higher concentration)?

Rusty, To the best of my knowledge all vinegar, both the distilled white and darker version are 5% acidic. I am not aware that it is sold in a higher concentration than that. It may be an industry "safety" standard for purposes of human consumption.

Jonathan

Anyone just save their vinegar bath for the next bunch of traps? I bought two gallon of vinegar and added enogh water to a five gallon bucket to cover about a half dozen traps. When i was done with the soak, i just put the lid on the bucket and set it out behind the garage. Haven't used it again, but it still smells like vinegar and i assume it will be ready for the next batch when i am.

Anybody else reuse it?

Jonathan - That is what I thought. I wondered if someone had a source for stronger stuff, maybe an industrial or agricultural material(not for human consumption).

Andy, I have never saved and recycled mine for another session. Even though the vinegar odor is evident, I just assumed that with all of the gunk from the first bath that it probably lost most of its potency to be as effective.

Its possible there is enough residual oomph in the old solution to do another batch. It may take two or three times longer. Never tested that theory. As inexpensive as it is, I opted to go with fresh juice.

Jonathan