First and Foremost, I'm very new to honing straight razors. With that said, I've been very pleased with my efforts!

I decided to try a little experiment:

I used to make my living doing Auto Body repair. When we would wet sand we would add a little liquid dish soap to the water to help the sandpaper 'glide' over the paint.

Well if it worked on paint, why not on a hone? Today I needed to hone my Genco Grant (you could ride the edge to town and not get cut) Anyway, starting with my King 1200, I added a drop or two to the water on the surface when I went to lap it. I left the slurry and proceeded with my usual process.

I continued to use the soap drops on the Norton 4k,8k and the Naniwa 12k both with and without a slurry. I found that the blade seemed to hone easier, less friction on the lower stones and an even smoother stroke on the 8k and 12k.

The only drawback was if there were suds. Then you couldn't see the water being undercut.

The blade shaved excellent!

Has anyone else tried this?