So I picked up some buffing compound the other day for a strop compound. I got the compounds from Princess Auto (a discount workshop and wholesale store in Winnipeg) and they have worked to my knowledge without and major damage (once I got the appropriate amounts on the strop). I got a white and a green one that I use. The white (Diamond) is supposed to provide some cut and a little polish, and the green is supposed to have minimal cut and more polish.
The key in here is the "once I got the appropriate amount on the strop." I first loaded up the strop, felt a little waxy but flat. I couldn't feel any built up areas or anything, but my blade sure did. After a few laps on the white, then green, then just on the webbing then leather I did an arm hair test and sure enough it was nicely refreshed and keen. I didn't take a close look at the edge cause, hey, it felt sharp and good.
The next day I did a quick stropping on the green then clean webbing and leather. Before I took the blade to my face I looked at the edge and saw little chucks of wax on the edge of the blade. I picked them off, ran a few more laps on the leather and completed the shave. It shaved fine, but there were some small areas of irritation during the shave. When I was done and stropped again before packing it all up I looked at the edge and I saw why I was irritated. There were little nicks in the edge. Nothing crazy big, but big enough for me to see without any magnification.
After a quick re-hone the blade is fine. But I found out that I sure did have too much compound on the strop. Took a paint scraper to the webbing and got out the excess. With hesitation I tried it again and checked the edge. No more issues.
Anyone else have a similar experience? What did you do and how did you fix it?
(BTW I shaved with it this morning, no more nicks, no more irritation, my keen edge is back!)