You use it on your leather, canvas, linen or balsa strop when you want to go one step sharper than what your grindstone can achieve.
The purpose of the paste is to fill the microscopic pores of the leather / canvas / balsa wood, without it being necessary to add as a layer over the entire surface. Lubricate a generous layer over the abrasive surface with your fingers and fill all voids. Wipe off excess paste from the surface with a paper towel. Take a new paper towel and wipe again. Repeat until you can barely sense any grinding paste on the paper napkin. Your strop is now ready for use.
Strop as usual, but with fewer strokes than if you just use plain leather conditioner. Try the knife-edge after every 10th stroke. You may have to experiment a bit before you find the level that suits you the best.
If the result then becomes too sharp and aggressive, use the green chromium oxide paste to take the worst "bite" of the knife and achieve a softer feel against the skin.
NOTE: Do not mix different grades of pasta in the same strop. A coarser paste will not disappear until the next time when you might want to use the strop for a finer stropping job.
If you want to rank the use of grindstones / lapping pastes it looks like this:
Starting point = Very dull razor/renovation object
1. Grindstone with very low grit
2. Grindstone with grit 6-8000
3. Grindstone with grit 12 000- more
4. Lapping Paste White
If the razor is sharp and pleasant, finish now with stropping the knife against a strop who had not received any other treatment than leather conditioner/fat.
Ready!
If the razor instead is so sharp and aggressive that you experience razor burn and a itching sensation on the skin? Continue below.
5. Lapping Paste Green (Chromium Oxide)
6. Finish with stropping the knife against a strop who had not received any other treatment than leather conditioner/fat.
