Hei people of this forum! Big question here.
I want to strip the original paint off the mask using mineral spirits. Now, the thing is that it seems to work pretty well on my cheap knockoff mask. But it also seems that this could make the latex a bit softer, losing it’s shape…
What’s your experience with mineral spirits?
Mineral spirits will help scrub the paint off like you said but it will also warp the latex for a few hours especially around the eyes and neck. When I’m finished stripping a mask with mineral spirits I rinse it with water, pat it dry, stuff it with grocery bags, and let it sit over night and it returns to shape. It will also return to shape on its own but I like to think those extra steps help it get there faster.
I’ll be honest. Nice cheap way to remove paint and not need 15 Tylenol in the process. But I’ve seen what it does and even though the latex seems to bounce back, the warping would make me suggest doing this only with Trick-or-Treat Studios or other mass-produced masks and never anything expensive just in case the droop doesn’t go away.
I used the water soak method. Pretty tedious but seems like it’s working
This is the way. Many don’t realize that the mass-produced masks while weaker in some aspects are truly durable. The latex/clay mixture handles the elements well and water is perfect. This method will save you hours. Looks like you got a big area done.
My only advice is to really allow the latex to soak. Maybe even an entire day but minimally 14-16 hours. At this point I’ve realized they are hit and miss. Some Trick-or-Treat copies will just have paint that is impossible to remove using only this technique. Thankfully, for the majority it just takes a steady hand and patience. If you’re able to get both sides up on an area, see if you are able to take it off almost like a big band aid. Like where you don’t want to rip hair off your arm basically 
it sounds weird but once they soak, you may be able to literally peel the mask in entirety in decent sized chunks.
If you hit areas that are annoying right off the bat, just to avoid needing to do it all again, move right on. Your goal here is to remove as much as in as few pieces as possible. Sometimes even amazing copies do leave little annoying remnants and for this a soft tip and tiny amount of pressure with a dremel should take care of the entire mask with the least stress possible q
Update. I had to use mineral spirits for the eyes area. The paint was not stripping at all. Tried for 3 hours only gor that area and nothing! Now this is how bent the mask is:
See this is where guys like Rowland might come into play. I tried to warn against mineral spirits for this exact reason. But hey some bounce back. But this is basically what I envisioned in my mind. It distorts areas and sometimes they don’t bounce back. Worst case you damaged a $60 best case is it bounces back to normalcy.
I am honestly unsure why the mineral spirit method is even used. I understand some don’t have a dremel but they aren’t expensive and the simplicity is basically as easy if not easier than the mineral spirit. You need to not he heavy-handed either road so I’m just sending positive energy your way. I hope that it bounces back.
Worst case scenario and ask anybody I am a man of my word. I still have 2 tagged pre-order Ends masks. If the mask is still like this in 2 days in what I’ve seen over the years that is just what it is. Rowland Kelly is brilliant and likely has a way to combat this. My brain tells me to stuff it with a plastic bag of cotton to force the normal shape and hope for the best
Also make sure you rinse this mask with pure water before anything. This isn’t like an awful thing it’s more expected than not. The softening of the latex USUALLY isn’t permanent if you didnt do things in excess or angrily scrub like I did. Just clean the mask and either ideally make perfect shape with cotton in a bag. If you don’t have cotton just stuff the entire masks with bags. Make it the natural shape and just leave it be now.
Unfortunately I only have my JC H40 but ifthe mask is shot, I’ll send one of the Ends preorders I have your way for free. Obviously it worked well and if it was really just the eyes this is to be expected but I haven’t worked on enough masks for any advice or tips to make sure it goes back. I guess keep us updated but don’t stress it.
Wow, you are actually a really nice person! Thank you! I kinda lost some hours of sleep for that process. I’m also mildly frustrated because the paint was removed successfully but the little bits and pieces of it stuck to the mask. So it’s kind of a mess.
The good news is that the mask returned to its original shape after I washed it and let it dry overnight with bags in it. 
I let it soak again until tonight.
I will need to remove these little bits of paint and the back side.
Mineral spirits are 100% petroleum distillates, you don’t want to use it or anything else derived from petroleum on latex. It will weaken it.