Good day,

When I ordered my first straight razor, I also ordered 2 hanging strops and one stropping board (with leather surface) and a small tube of red Dovo paste. I have not used the red Dovo paste yet, but I was thinking of trying it this weekend with the spare stropping board.

Based on what I've read here, it seems that the red paste is considered fairly coarse, and perhaps not the best finishing option for a blade. I was thinking of other mild abrasives that I might be able to use after the red Dovo paste, and the thought of Baking Soda crossed my mind... I've read on one knife forum that it was described as a "very fine polishing or stropping compound" but how well would it work on a stainless steal straight razor (Dovo Inox)?

I know, I know, black Dovo or CrOx is probably a better option, but I'm still curious to know if anybody has ever tried baking soda on a strop, and how it worked out?

At the risk of getting side-tracked with two topics in the same thread, does anybody here use red Dovo only, then directly to regular cloth/leather for a shave?

Thanks in advance!