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.