Right you are Crook....most tack rags are made with boiled linseed oil.....Avion..you are rubbing too hard. Rub the plane down with balsa dust, brush it off with a paint or counter brush and do it again lightly. When it no longer works, unfold it and refold it to a new side. You could wipe it on a piece of paper before you use it, but you are just rubbing to hard. BTW..same thing applies to sand paper. When its new it has high and low granuals, wipe it on a piece of pine before you go scrubbing on you plane. Hope this helps. from an old professional woodworker.