Soapy water slows down sharpening.

[kinematic]

I've just done the dishes and I also needed to give a kitchen knife a quick touchup so I used the dishwater and I noticed sharpening was slower than usual. I drained the dishwater and now I used clean water and sharpening was back at normal speed. It seems soapy water slows down the sharpening, has anyone else noticed the same thing? I can only surmise that the soap somehow prevents the steel from making full contact with the stone.

 

[Bart]

I have noticed the same when soap is added to a slurry, which seemed to slow down things a bit.

Kind regards,
Bart.

 

[dnullify]

I've been experiencing with a frothy water lather. Seems to work really well for the final touch.