Definition
Liquid or gel chemical solutions applied to an aircraft surface to dissolve and remove old paint or coatings. On composite structures, most chemical strippers are prohibited because they can soak into the matrix resin and degrade or destroy the composite material; paint must instead be removed by careful sanding or media blasting.
Plain English
Strong chemicals used to strip paint off aircraft. They cannot be used on composite parts because the chemicals soak into the material and ruin it.
Context Anchor
Seen in aircraft maintenance, repainting, and composite airframe care, especially when discussing what methods are safe for removing old paint.
Why Pilots Care
These products can penetrate the resin matrix of composites, causing softening, delamination, or loss of structural strength.
Intuition Check
Do not assume a paint stripper only affects the paint. On composite aircraft, the chemical can also affect the material under the paint.
Example Sentence 1
Because the wing skins were composite, the shop refused to use chemical paint strippers and sanded the old paint off by hand instead.
Example Sentence 2
Before repainting the fairing, the technician confirmed that no chemical paint strippers would be used on the fiberglass surface.