# muriatic acid



## trapper roy

I have some traps I haven`t used in a few years that has rust on them, does anyone know ,if I were to use Muriatic acid to clean the up before I die and wax them if it would weaken the trap.Any and all input would be most helpful.


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## xdeano

I wouldn't use muriatic acid, I'd use a steel brush to get most of that rust off then dye and wax, the dye will stick better to the trap anyhow.

xdeano


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## Plainsman

The muriatic acid caught my eye. You may want to search and confirm this, but a chemist told me that muriatic was simply a 14th century term for plain old hydrochloric acid. I was going to spend a mint for muriatic acid under my pine trees to acidify to soil and the guy said why waste the money, for 1/10 the cost you can buy a gallon of 33% hydrochloric.

I don't do much trapping, but I wouldn't think acid on metal would be a good idea. Like Xdeano I would recommend a wire brush, but I am lazy and would use one on a power tool.


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## deacon

I picked up a gallon of muratic not to long ago are Fleet Farm for less than $10. Just need to dilute about 10 to 1 ratio, I know that works well for cleaning copper.


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## Plainsman

deacon said:


> I picked up a gallon of muratic not to long ago are Fleet Farm for less than $10. Just need to dilute about 10 to 1 ratio, I know that works well for cleaning copper.


That's not bad. I was looking at Miracle Grow I think it was. Nice little blue crystals and enough to do my 100 pines would have run me about $125 ten years ago. A gallon of hydrochloric at that time was just over $3. What is the percentage on that gallon you purchased at Fleet Farm? $10 was very reasonable.

My memory is letting me down this morning, but I use a red gel like product to remove rust. If I run into it in my shop this morning I'll repost, but I'll bet someone will remember before I get around to it.


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## Crazycowboy

xdeano said:


> I wouldn't use muriatic acid, I'd use a steel brush to get most of that rust off then dye and wax, the dye will stick better to the trap anyhow.
> 
> xdeano


Quicker way to clean them up is to run them through an old cement mixer with some small (pea size or so) gravel for about 5-10 minutes before dying/waxing. I used to use a small hand cranked mixer that we had added an electric motor to...worked great and very little work to it.


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## xdeano

That's one way to beat the crap out of your equipment. I'd rather be able to use them after I clean them. You could drag them behind your car too, but I'm not going to do that either.

xdeano


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## Crazycowboy

actually, i've used that method for years and never damaged a trap. worst damage i've ever done was tore off a few of the "write on" ID tags off the chains...no big loss.


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## farmerj

Plainsman said:


> My memory is letting me down this morning, but I use a red gel like product to remove rust. If I run into it in my shop this morning I'll repost, but I'll bet someone will remember before I get around to it.


Taking a SWAG, I'd say that it's Naval Jelly


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## xdeano

ok well I was just waiting for someone else to mention this, but beings that no one wants to share a good method of stripping the rust off a trap that is safe to the trap here goes.

Go to sams club and by a pile of white vinegar, dump it into a large bowl and throw your traps in there and leave them sit for as long as you want them. Then all you have to do is slush them around after a week and the rust will just flake right off, use a power washer or hose to rinse all the rust off. You'll be surprised at how clean they will be. But treat these traps as if they were new, they'll need a coat of dye and wax. They will rust very quickly just to for warn you.

This works on traps without wax, so if you have some traps with wax on them you'll have to boil that off and get as much off as possible.

Give it a try, you'll love the results. An old Federal trapper down in Mississippi passed down the tip.

xdeano


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## collector

go out and buy 4 gals of The Works toilet bowl cleaner ( the blue jug)putt it in a 5 gal pail drop in you'r traps it doe'nt matter how rusty they are they will look like new when you'r done but you must rinse them really good when you're done or they will rerust over night, I've had the same pail of the stuff for 10 yrs I just add some every now and then, if the traps are a solid ball of rust and there's a lot of them the stuff will get weak after awhile and need to be replaced .( dispose of properly use outdoors and wear safety glasses and don't get it on you're clothes this is nasty stuff , oh ya it does'nt work on waxed traps.


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