Quote Originally Posted by PuFFaH
I use washing-up liquid and water as my Arkansas lubricant so I dont pass on oil to my work. This works well but to be honest liquid parafin (oil) is better and seems to cut faster.
I use shaving lather as a lubricant on my fine translucent arkansas stone, which seems to do a good job of keeping the stone from clogging up while allowing the stone to produce a very fine edge. For my hard arkansas bench hone I use hand soap and water which seems to work pretty well. I've never been a big fan of oil on arkansas stones, eventually the stone clogs up and has to be resurfaced.