Cleaning Traps

I have some user traps that I want to use to start my "old" trap collection. Some have been boiled in logwood. What is the best way to clean them for display?

Thank you.

I would wash them in warm soapy water to remove loose dye and dirt. Dry thoroughly. And leave them like that.

If you try to remove the trap dye, you will probably be cleaning them to bare metal, which is not good. "collector" traps should have ordinary trap rust. It is called "patina".

Thank you!

I could be wrong- but I seem to recall someone mentioning wd-40 as a solution to wipe collector traps down with. Is this true?

WD40 can be used to "clean" collector traps. It can be helpful in making the pan more readable. Can also be lightly applied to the rest of the trap to retard rusting.