I wouldn't put them in the washing machine. If the handle is wooden, all that water could do damage. I guess I would keep rinsing.

If it's down into the bristles, and the end of the brush feels soft, I wouldn't worry about it. You don't want to do more harm than good at this point.

I use a scrubby in the shower which I load up with body soap every shower and I rinse it when done, but it always seems to have some soap in it...but the next time I grab it and wet it, no soap. No idea where it goes, but that's what happens.

It would help if you could comb through the bristles as you rinse the brush under water - that's the technique I use for cleaning paintbrushes. You might try holding the brush under running water and pulling a large needle through the bristles starting at the heel of the ferrule - that is the area where the bristles meet the metal. That will help separate the bristles where they are held tightly together and allow the water to wash away the soap.

How about letting the bristles soak in a glass of water.

Here's a youtube. This is how I've cleaned my make up brushes as well as my paint brushes.

You don't need the brush cleaner he speaks of for your make up brush, just the technique of rolling it around in the palm of your hand. It may take a while to get all the soap out, as make up brushes are considerably denser than paint brushes.

at the time frame 1:41 where he's "bending" the bristles back & forth, this is really good for working the soap out.

Good luck!

Wondering if what you are seeing is air that has been trapped between the bristles.

I pounce mine up and down in a clean basin of water, sometimes into my open palm under water if I've been heavy handed with soap. Then still rinse copiously under running water. I buy good brushes and keep them many years, have not had any problems keeping them clean. (I air dry overnight with the bristles suspended over nothing). I can't imagine what my washer could do that I couldn't do by hand other than ruin the brush ;0)

Maifleur, it's definitely soap. I think I'll try a water, vinegar soak and see if that helps break up some of soap. Even if there is some soap left up way up in the bristles inside the metal part, I think once the bristle are completely dry, I'd be ok going forward just washing the exposed bristles not getting water back up into the bristles up in the metal part getting the soap activated again.

Luckily, they are not expensive brushes.

NO! DO NOT SOAK YOUR BRUSH!

The hairs that make up the brush are glued into the ferrule, and if you soak it, it will weaken the glue and then the bristles will fall out.

If you soaked it you would also have water soaking into the wood handle and swelling it up and resulting in cracking as it dried. Doesn't ammonia remove suds?

If the brush is synthetic, it’s probably ok to use ammonia, but I would not use it on squirrel or goat hair brushes.

”Luckily, they are not expensive brushes.”

“Expensive” is relative. I have several makeup brushes that were $25 to $35 each, which I don’t consider to be expensive (nor do I consider them to be inexpensive). They are blue squirrel, and I wouldn’t use ammonia on them.

I always use shampoo to clean make up brushes. Whirl it around in the palm of my hand and rinse.

I reread what you wrote and saw you used dawn which is a detergent soap so that ought to just rinse out eventually with water. Detergents have a molecular attraction for water which makes them easy to rinse out.