Amun wrote:

....
All of those "citrus" cleaners are still oil based and may be great on a
real bristle brush. (that water based products might damage)

Water-based products won't "damage" any brush I've ever seen made for
painting. Some might not flow as well or hold the optimum amount of
paint but that's going overboard w/ caution, imo.

....

You missed the part where I stressed the hammer method was

"last shot, drastic action as there is no other choice, and
nothing to lose."

But time...might as well just pitch it and save the trouble.

Perhaps I could have been clearer and said
"after nothing else works, just before you are ready to toss the brush, but
you STILL want to try saving it."

Better ?

Not really imo.

The brush restorer technique is far preferable both in what it will do
to the brush and the probability of success. Quite far gone brushes can
be pretty frequently brought back to at least usability that way. I'd
think the probability of having something useful for other than a
parts-washing grease brush would be essentially zero after beating on it
w/ a hammer extensively.