Does anyone have any pictures of what waxed dirt is supposed to look like when it's ready to use? I've been trying my hand at it and think I'm on the right track, but I don't know what the finished product is. Thanks for any help.

Chuck

When you mix the wax and dirt and set it out in the sun......the dirt that asorbs the wax will look a litte darker almost kinds wet looking. I always mix mine a time or two, during the process. You will see right away what I am talking about. If its melted and mixed right when you are done at the end of the day it will all look a little damp........ One thing you should not do is let sweat from your forehead drop in your dirt when you are settin up or mixing. And wear plastic or latex gloves. Sure way to contaminate you dirt is to let your sweat fall in.. Good luck!!

Thanks! So just a slightly damp look is what I want? I was thinking it would be dark brown.......like it had just taken a heavy rain. Good thing I asked cause I was getting ready to add twice the wax I've already added!

I spread my dirt on a piece of plywood up on 2 sawhorses.Let it dry out really well.It will get really warm on a hot day from the plywood.I then keep stirring in the wax until it will not take anymore.Usually a lb or so per gallon of dirt.

Different types of dirt take a different amount of wax. To test it just put some in a clear drinking glass and run some water on top of it and if it soak in you need more wax, if it doesn't soak in your good to go.

Making waxed dirt with the sun......this Forum !!!

lol ,look for LT's very own post on this and there would be answers

I never mess with waxed dirt, but, why can't you just grate up brown wax and eliminate all the labor and the dirt part, or just use plain wax, and cover either one with site dirt?

I've gone to lay down in traffic...

How's that going to work , wax would float away, and dirt would be wet , kinda the opposite effect of wax(Ed)dirt

Don't bake a cake like that

Should I wax my peat moss ??

Here is my simple way of waxing dirt. First I put sifted dirt in my frame to dry



After is is dry I add wax. In this picture it was Gulf canning wax



Then I place a pane of glass on top to trap the radiant heat from the sun



I remove the glass from time to time once the wax melts and stir the dirt to make sure I have it all coated.


The nice part about this method is that if a thunderstorm pops up, the glass keeps the process dry until the sun comes out again. even if it isn't for several days. When the batch is done, I load the frame up with more sifted dirt and do another batch.

bic, good set-up....but wouldn't granulated wax be better ?

LT, Flake wax is MUCH better. That's what I used this year. In years past, I used the canning wax because I could slip a couple pound in with the wifes groceries every few weeks so it wouldn'y have to come out of MY trapping money!

pretty slick bic

tried a batch today using this method, first time using this method, the dirt looked "WET" afterwords. I'm assuming too much wax?

friend at work today told me he uses an old cement mixer and torch he also uses it to clean traps just by adding sand GENIUS

using an old cement mixer to clean traps is very efficient, I ve never tried it with sand, we use pea gravel and a little water. sand would be less messy and you coould do it indoors, gonna have to try it.