The only dumb question you can ask is the one you already know the answer to. Cleaning your mud pails out the way you do is fine, and they're free. No need to spend money on 'rubber maid' tub products. Keep clean traps in clean buckets, and dirty traps in dirty buckets, without ever mixing them up. You should be good for years. After you boil your traps correctly, lay them out in the grass for several days to maintain the thin layer of rust for the wax to adhere to. Make sure your traps have completely dried prior to waxing. Shake off the excess wax, let cool, then into your 'clean' bucket. Keep the lid on the clean buckets, sealed tight for odor concerns. Actually the real odor concern is from a trap that has made a catch.

Frank.