Hi everyone,

Just curious about alternative approaches to stropping pastes and compounds. In the first place because I am curious as a teen boy (even if I am a few times that age...) and in the second place because I live in Argentina, and importing most things is cumbersome or even nearly impossible.

I am currently stropping with green paste (probably CrOx, which is around #700 grit in whatever scale they are using), very fine, also used by knifemakers to polish blades, and then a white paste (#1300 grit in hopefully the same scale). No problem with them, I jump to plain leather after the white one.

But as nothing is too good to avoid trying something better, someone around might have already tried with alternative products: Brass polish, silver polish, car paint polish (at least three available here: "rough", "fine", and "autopolish"), toothpaste, engine valve polish (at least two available around here: "rough", which is definitely too rough for a straight razor, and "fine"), and probably other ones.

Has anyone tried any of the above? Other ones? Any clue on where should I place them on my "stropping grit scale" order?

Thanks for any input on this.