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I know this question gets asked pretty much constantly but I have a few questions about stripping plastic/resin models. I'm not concerned with metal as anything I use on plastic or resin I'm pretty sure wouldn't damage metal.

I've tried Purple Power, Super Clean, and now 91% rubbing (isopropyl) alcohol all to various degrees of success. The rubbing alcohol seems to be the most capable stripper but I'm new to all of this so I could be wrong.

My primary question revolves around potential damage to the models. I don't have a lot of free time these days so what I've been doing is dumping models into something to strip them (right now everything is in super clean with a few others in the rubbing alcohol to test) with plans to fish them out when I have time to clean them up. I've had a bunch of Battle of Macragge genestealers and a bunch of space marines sitting in Super Clean for probably 2 weeks now and out of curiosity I took a few out and inspected them for damage. Not seeing any I tossed them back in the container and put it back on the top of my fridge.

Will leaving models in purple power/super clean/91% rubbing alcohol long term (weeks) damage them? My first instinct would be no because I feel like I would have seen damage by now if it was going to happen, but again I could be wrong.

Furthermore, is there a universally agreed upon 'best' stripper? I see all kinds of opinions (including the three listed above) but no solid consensus. I've heard DOT 3 brake fluid (which is a little more hazardous than I'd like to leave sitting ontop of my fridge), Dettol (which I've never seen in the US), and Simple Green all work very well but how do they compere to Purple Power/Super Clean/91% isopropyl alcohol?

Pretty much anything is safe if the model is metal.

For plastics, the best paint stripper I have found is LA Totally Awesome cleaner from the dollar store (yellow liquid version). It has yet to let me down and has been safe on plastics and resins.

I've used purple power, but I think they changed the formulation and its not as effective. Brake fluid is highly toxic and caustic and much harder to responsibly dispose of. Alcohol, I think, will damage plastics if left to sit. Likewise Pine Sol (which is my go to for metals).

If you search in the tutorials forum, there is a huge thread on LA Totally Awesome.

Seconding LA's Totally Awesome, though I haven't encountered the yellow one and have been using Orange. Safe for plastic and resin.
Simple Green is ok but it costs more and has a stronger smell.
http://www.lastotallyawesome.com/products/all-purpose/

Wouldn't recommend lavender. I grabbed some when the orange was out of stock since they were both labelled 'all purpose degreaser' but it was pretty ineffective.

Forget Simple Green, it is garbage compared to Purple Power/Super Clean.

Purple Power/Super Clean will strip darn near anything, some primers can be a pain to strip.

I use an ultrasonic cleaner which heats up the fluid and accelerates the stripping process.

I have left models in Purple Power/Super Clean for well over a year with no issues. I have stripped plastic, metal, FW resin and even finecast without issue.

I'm going to give LA's Totally Awesome Cleaner a shot as well, but as long as Super Clean does not damage plastic/resin/metal miniatures with prolonged exposure I'll probably end up sticking with that.

Unless LA's is better, that is. I've got a container with some minis in the LA's now so we will see how that goes in a day or two.

I repair alot of electronics at work. i know it strips paint basically instantly so I tried Flux Remover spray on a mini. Stripped all the paint off of a plastic mini in seconds without causing damage. Although I would clean it off immediately since I don't know if it will cause damage over longer periods of time. That said it should be safe on plastic since PCBs Will often have plastic components on them. It really is faitly instantaneous.

Brakefluid in a icecream tub. Use a toothbrush, dentist pick and rinse the models really good after. I haven't had anything else work as good.

I left some HIPS plastic models in a bath of 91% Isoropyl Alcohol (Rubbing Alcohol) for more than a month because ahh... personal lack of interest in the armies they belonged to. The models came out undamaged. It's the best stripping stuff I've worked with but it's kind of pricey compared to LA's totally awesome.

 TheCustomLime wrote:
I left some HIPS plastic models in a bath of 91% Isoropyl Alcohol (Rubbing Alcohol) for more than a month because ahh... personal lack of interest in the armies they belonged to. The models came out undamaged. It's the best stripping stuff I've worked with but it's kind of pricey compared to LA's totally awesome.

I have some going for a year strong.

still no issues.

I use 99% isopropyl, never had issues and it's effective.