I have a friend that also does the same thing you mentioned, Hal. Just throws his traps in a cold barrel of dye for a week or so and they are black just like a boiled trap. He doesn’t ever change his water either, just throws a pillowcase full of walnut hulls and sumac bark in it every once in a while to steep. His barrel will have small mold spores growing on top of it sometimes in the summer. He just splashes it out before he throws his traps in. Rain keeps the barrel full of water, and you would think it would dilute the dye, but it actually doesn’t seem like it dilutes more than a few inches on the top if he doesn’t stir it.