Waxed Dirt Making for Cold Weather Canine Trapping: Solar Method

This article tells you how to make waxed dirt for weatherproofing your canine sets in cold states where the ground freezes using the solar method in the summer months.

You can order flake wax here: https://www.southernsnares.com/products/flaked-wax

Summer waxed dirt making is ideal on any day over 85 degrees with no rain in the forecast and low humidity.

Sift dirt into your heating container, this can be a black planter like I have pictured, your own wooden cradle, or a tarp on some plywood. 

Stir your sifted dirt every hour until it is completely dry.  This is the most important step.  There cannot be any moisture in your dirt prior to waxing, or you will be sealing in moisture, which will result in mildew and freezing.  You can tell your dirt is dried when you stir it around and there is no color change.

Once dry, add a thin layer of flake wax to the top, slightly covering the dirt.  Do not mix.

Allow this layer to melt and seep into the dirt.  Once melted, it will appear wet.


Stir this first round of “wet” dirt around real good.

Even out and add a second layer of flake wax to the top.

A good rule of thumb is to use 2 cups of wax for every 1 gallon of sifted, dry dirt.

Once the second layer of wax is completely melted, you can stir that around real good.

You’ll know you are done when your container of dirt entirely appears “wet”.

Allow to cool before storing or you will end up with a solid brick of waxed dirt.  Be sure not to “seal” your storage container, so that moisture and heat can escape, or you will get mildew and then all your waxed dirt will smell like a wet towel that sat on the floor for a week.

I also recommend drying a batch of regular peat moss while you do this process.  Once your waxed dirt is complete and cooled down for storage, I add equal parts waxed dirt with dry peat moss and stir together.  For example, I’ll put a 5 gallon bucket of waxed dirt into my storage container followed by a 5 gallon bucket of dry peat moss and stir it like I’m churning butter.  The peat will act as a filler to help stretch out your precious waxed dirt gold throughout the season but will also help wick away rain or water at your set.


If you are wondering how much waxed dirt you should make, a good guideline is 1 gallon of waxed dirt per trap.  So if you run 50 traps per season, make 50 gallons of waxed dirt.  Also, I like to tell people to double that number that they come up with.  Then you might have enough to last.  You never know if deer will set your trap off 5 times, or you’ll catch 19 skunks before that first coyote, so you want to have extra on hand.

If you did not do this process ahead of time and it’s mid-January and you are wondering what you should do now, please read my waxed dirt article for procrastinators: http://skyegoode.blogspot.com/2018/01/how-to-make-waxed-dirt-for-winter.html