Thread: When to strop on the iron oxide/ Chromin oxide balsa paddle

I have recently just started SRS and I cheapped out on my strop getting the basic balsa wood strop with the Chromium oxide and Iron oxide pastes as well as a standard leather strop. Now What I've been doing is leather strop before every shave (50ish times) and then using the balsa wood every 3 or 4th shave. Is this right?? Or should I be using the balsa more or less? I'm planning on picking up a better razor in the next few months and will be getting a double leather in the future but this is what i have for now ha ha

Your face should be answering this question for you.

I'm not sure ha ha Other then minor razor burn It seems to be working, But i think the razor burn is being cause by too much pressure not the razor prep?

FWIW, I'm no expert, but every 3 or 4 shaves seems too often for a CrOx touchup. I do a touchup only when I notice that the razor isn't cutting as well as it used to - every few weeks or so. My current shaver is about 20 shaves since the last touchup and still cutting fine.
Was your razor shave ready when you got it? If not, it might be worthwhile to get it professionally honed.

It supposedly was but I found it dulled fast (after about 5 shaves) I just got a friend to rehone it after about 12 shaves and its working wonders now. but it seemed like a lot to me as well? Now that its been rehoned and is sharp I want to make sure Im doing it right and not going to screw it up. It is a cheaper razor(Didnt want to spend a ton till i figured out if i was going to run with it)

You should use chrome ox either after honing or when the razor starts to tug. I'd only recommend using paste after honing when you become proficient enough to achieve good results on the stones alone. Pastes can help to cover up shoddy honing and can create a false positive.

If you're using it to refresh an edge and find yourself using it too often you may want to examine your shaving technique, stropping technique or both.

See how it was explained o me was strop every shave, balsa strop every 15 shaves or when the blade tugs, hone every 30 shaves or when its obv dull??? I was finding my blade was tugging after 3-5? Ive only got 2 shaves since it was honned by a friend and is working great. My razor has only been honned twice, once before it was sent to me and then a few shaves ago. I just dont want to wreck my blade I guess??

Originally Posted by dixon3162000

See how it was explained o me was strop every shave, balsa strop every 15 shaves or when the blade tugs, hone every 30 shaves or when its obv dull??? I was finding my blade was tugging after 3-5? Ive only got 2 shaves since it was honned by a friend and is working great. My razor has only been honned twice, once before it was sent to me and then a few shaves ago. I just dont want to wreck my blade I guess??

What you are experiencing is very typical for new guys. As you gain experience and your technique improves you'll find the frequency of honings will become less and less. You won't really ruin your blade per se with doing excessive touch ups, but over the long term (ie many years) excessive metal removal will shorten the life of the razor.

I've also been lead to believe from reading other posts over the last day, cause i picked it up from whipped dog, the original hone might not have been as good as advertised!

I do 50 laps after every shave. When the razor started tugging a little I gave it 25 laps on CrOx followed by 25 on FeOx and 50 on leather. This lasted about 4 shaves so I did it again and the razor went over two months before it needed it. I have settled on 30/30/50 the first of every other month. That regimen has worked for over a year and a half on two different razors shaving an average of 6 times a week. YMMV