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As the title says, is this a match made in heaven or hell? I mainly use W&N S7's, and I'm finding that my main brush is just starting to get some acrylic accretion around the bristles and ferrule end. I was thinking about getting an Ultrasonic Cleaner anyway, but if I can clean brushes with it safely, that would be a bonus.

What are the ferrules made of? I think ultrasonic cleaners can knock electroplated stuff off it’s substrate.

As far as W&N advertise them - just nickel. Whether that means nickel plated or solid nickel I have no idea. In some respects, I'm not too fussed about some damage to the ferrule (If it's only superficial). It's the bristles and glue I'm worried about.

Do you use W&N Brush cleaner? It's potent stuff that dissolves dried paint.

Another trick I use, is that after the brush soap or any other treatments, I dip my brush is some hair conditioner, leave for a few minutes and then rinse.

There again, from what I see on YouTube, I'm fastidious about cleaning my brushes at the end of every session.

Aye I do. But it's just not shifting the darker pigments from the bristles. The brush is about 2 years old, and my main one, so I expect a little bit of toughened paint. I clean it after every use, but I've noticed tougher pigments slowly building up and though the USC may revitalise it somewhat.

Usually it's Masters brush soap, rinse and pat dry, then massage some coconut oil in (once a month or so) to replenish the natural oils. It's lasted me this long, but could do with some extra tlc (Given the manufacturing process of Kolinsky sable, I want maximum use before I throw it away).

Do you mean one of those ones for cleaning your teeth?

We recently got a water glosser and was impressed with how powerful it is and think it it might be good for removing paint from detail recesses instead of a toothpick

If you're getting paint up into the ferrule, it's worth reevaluating how you use your brush- ideally, the paint should be getting no higher than halfway up the bristles.

I'd be concerned about an ultrasonic cleaner potentially disassembling the glue that holds the bristles and ferrule together. If you're willing to accept that risk then it's worth a shot.

@mrFickle - No I'm referring to a 'bath' type device that uses frequency stimulated water to abrade tarnishing and dirt on objects (Usually jewellery). I'm fairly confident that not be able to fit my skull into an Ultrasonic Cleaner . But the water flosser was an interesting idea for detail paint stripping

@catbarf - I think there's some crossed wires here.

I'm not getting paint 'up the ferrule'. The ferrule was only mentioned vis-a-vis the USC potentially stripping the electroplating. All I'm asking about was removing some toughened pigment from the bristles, as per my original post.

I do appreciate your comment regarding the glue (as I mentioned earlier) - do you have any personal experience of this happening?

 Warpig1815 wrote:
I'm not getting paint 'up the ferrule'. The ferrule was only mentioned vis-a-vis the USC potentially stripping the electroplating. All I'm asking about was removing some toughened pigment from the bristles, as per my original post.

Gotcha- I read 'ferrule end' and thought you were saying there was paint up at the top of the bristles and into the ferrule. No worries.

 Warpig1815 wrote:
I do appreciate your comment regarding the glue (as I mentioned earlier) - do you have any personal experience of this happening?

Yes, but in retrospect it was probably due to the use of a mild solvent in the ultrasonic cleaner. After further research it looks like using water is fine (or at least, can be done without immediate failure); might not get all of the paint out but seems worth a try. I wonder if it would be viable to dissolve some brush soap into it as a cleaning solution.

I suppose to really be on the safe side you could suspend the brush such that only the bristles are actually in the water.

Didn't want to come off abrupt there - I just wanted to get in before any inevitable 'Noob painter' comments roll in

Sets my mind to ease that potentially the issue there was solvent use. In the past I've made my mistakes in using IPA to clean brushes (A thoroughly bad idea on delicate sable ). I think adding a mild detergent in might be a good idea - something like a natural/gentle hair shampoo, or minimising the contact anything other than the bristles . Good call .