why are my shaves only getting worse
As others have mentioned, it is your stropping technique. I made the mistake of lifting the spine up and had a similiar issue. Once I improved my stropping, my shaves improved. I would say go slower and focus on keeping the blade flat. I would say if your strop has a canvas or linen side, paste is with CrOx lightly. I would say try thirty on the canvas/linen then about 75 on the leather side. If yours is only the leather, than try the newspaper instead of using the canvas. It took me awhile to discover I was stropping improperly.