In my experience, my TM two-sided paddle strop with diamond paste works best when it is bone dry (the paste can take a while to dry, especially if you lay it on a bit thick). Unless the leather is cracking, I'd say dry is good.
The only time I've had to do 'maintenance' of any sort on the paddle is when it started to look black from the steel. Then i just wiped it gently with a damp cloth until the now-grey paste was all off and then reapplied the paste sparingly. Others here have suggested black/grey discolouring from steel doesn't actually affect its performance and is just an aesthetic thing.
I find the paddle is less effective unless it is completely dry.
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