So I am very new to straight razor shaving. Only 3 shaves in. But third shave I shaved my neck as well as the sides of my face. Gonna wait before I try my chin. I am on a monthly budget. So right now I only have the 2in wide leather strop that came with my Dovo Bismarck. I am getting ready to order a 3 inch wide strop and some diamond paste. Gonna get some balsa wood as well. I want to try the "balsa/paste" method as described by Slash McCoy. I even watched his youtube video. To get to the point. I dulled my edge somehow. It may have happened when I was stropping or maybe when I was trying to remove some small bloodstains? that stained my razor immediately the first time I shaved with it. I was using toothpaste being careful not to get any on the edge. At some point I will order some stones. Thinking about the Norton Set. Anyhow the razor fails the treetop and hanging hair test. It was passing this test before. It could be worse because it will shave my arm hair at skin level. But since I am still enjoying My Meiji adjustable razor there is no rush to get back to my straight. So, I have a question [Slash McCoy are you out there?]. Have any of you been able to bring a somewhat dulled edge back by using the Balsa method without having to take it to the stone? If so, did you have to use all 3 grits of paste. .50,.25, then .10u ? Were you able to go straight to the fine .10 and fix it? And I know that of course this all depends on just how dull the razor is. But I was just curious. My razor was supposed to come with a free honing coupon. I did not get it. I emailed the seller about a month ago. No response! So no way in hell am I going to ever send my razor to him. Won't ever order from him again either. Horrible customer service! And to think I was maybe going to have him do a custom piece in the future since he is a bladesmith. Anyhow, next time I strop it will be on 3 in wide leather instead of 2. I just think that it is easier for a newbie like me. In the future I may have to buy a cheap straight to practice with stones. I won't even attempt to hone my Dovo any time soon. Also I am going to get some never dull in case I get any more stains. I used it many years ago when I used to have samurai swords. It worked great. Also, I know that many say that other polishes are better than never dull, however I am concerned about the gold plating. Also I used straight rubbing alcohol on my blade before I shaved. I did not do that again. Now I dip the razor in a mix of about 4 parts alcohol to 1 part mineral oil. I wipe it of the blade before I shave. But I feel that there is enough of a oil residue left to give the steel some protection. Of course the best thing is to not cut myself! Now back in my days of practicing Iaido [samurai sword] I would wipe my blade with a silicone treated cloth before practice cutting on wet straw mats or bamboo. This would help from getting stains on the blade. I may try that as a alternative to mineral oil when storing my straight for any length of time. Sorry for such a long post. But any advice related to straight razors will be greatly appreciated. Thank you!