The invention discloses a preparation and application method of a water-based paint remover. The water-based paint remover consists of sodium hydroxide, a surface active agent and a composite additive. The mass fraction of sodium hydroxide is 3%-10% that of the surface active agentis 0.5%-2%, that of the composite additive is 1%-6%, and the rest is water. The surface active agent is octadecyl dihydroxy diethyl betaine; and the composite additive is composed of three of sodium lactate, sodium malate, sodium sarcosinate, natrium aceticum and sodium gluconate. The water-based paint remover disclosed by the invention has the characteristics of being efficient, environmentally-friendly, safe, nontoxic, barely corrosive and hard to volatilize, can be used for removing the paint from common metal and plastic base materials, and is simple and easy to prepare and use.