"stuart noble" wrote in message
news:UxCZn.143857$_F1.133699@hurricane...

Then there were the alkali strippers: basically just caustic soda
thickened to stop it running straight off (can't think of an ideal
thickener off hand).

I think starch was the norm (although ordinary flour works just as well),
but that made them impossibly gloopy. The problem with caustic strippers
has always been keeping them in place on vertical surfaces where they
slide and slurp as each layer is dissolved. Toilet tissue (and lots of it)
makes quite a good "thickener", and absorbs the gunk well, if anyone
fancies making their own.

Clever idea.

S