Quote Originally Posted by T0mS3LicK View Post
I do agree that in the past you always saw straps in the barber shop hanging from the chair which, would give anyone good reason to not doubt the use of it, but is it only because it was made for ease of use in the barber shop? I think if we can call a spade a spade, we could also call a good strip of leather a good strip of leather. As long as the guitar strap is in a good condition (not freyed or damaged which could deviat the steel from keeping its edge) then it should be alright. I have thought of using my black leather pants belt before, but barbers didnt take there belt off to sharpen their razor, mainly because the strop was made for one thing, a razor. Only because the razor's edge is so fine you didnt want to use the strop for anything else but sharpen razors, and discipline the children. So you have to keep your leather strop in as good condition as your straight razor itself.
If another material was superior or cheaper and in the long run lasted as long they would have used that instead whether it could hang from the chair or mount on a table or whatever. They used a strop because it was the best all around device to do the job.

My feeling is in a pinch you can use whatever you have handy but for long-term use I would be using a strop made and finished for the purpose. You can get a decent one for not that much and it will last a very long time.