Ok, so I spoke to my mum about this, because making soap is a hobby of hers.
She was a bit surprised to see it in it's current state because there's nothing in unaltered soap that could cause it to go mouldy, just water, oil and caustic soda. Soap only goes mouldy when additives are introduced. Something about saponification.
So with her interest piqued, she searched up masters brush cleaner and came back none the wiser because the manufacturer uses some proprietary ingredients. (Which she thinks could possibly be a fabric softener of some sort)
However she also found a forum where someone else had had the same problem I have. I don't have a link to the forum she found, but basically the other bloke concluded after a bit of research and experimentation that his brush cleaner went mouldy when he kept the lid on it. Which would seem fairly normal if it were damp. He also found that "saddle soap" appears to be essentially the same thing as masters brush cleaner, as it cleans brushes the same, no better, no worse. And also lathers and foams exactly the same way.
Mum says she has used saddle soap in the past to keep her gardening boots in good order. While she has never had it go mouldy on her, despite being kept with the lid on, she believes that this is because she used to wipe the foamy build up off the soap cake with a rag after she was done with it.
So today's lesson boiled down thus.
- It's time to get a new jar of brush soap.
- After a quarter of a century mum's still helping my arse out.
Thanks for your thoughts though lads.