I use hot soap and water for a prewash to get sand, dirt etc. off brass if necessary.
For additives with the ceramic, I have used several brands. The ceramic cleaner additive that Sagebrush sells does a pretty decent job of cleaning, but still leaves the brass looking pretty dull (if that matters to you).
I have a good friend who is a chemical engineer. We have been working thru several types of concoctions to come up with a good/cheap brass cleaner. We're pretty close to having it just right.
The brass shown in the pic is from 45 minutes in the Thumlers with a half teaspoon of our latest brew and one quart of hot tap water. Still fine tuning it a little. When we get it right, we will probably start trying to sell it at local gunshows to see if there is any interest. We have already located someone to package and label it. It may be a great idea, or a terrible idea, time will tell. If I can sell enough to keep me in bullets, I'll consider it a success.
For ceramic sizes, measure your primer pocket and buy something angle cut that is slightly longer in length, as small a diameter as available. This works great for straight wall cases, for bottlenecks go with spherical, 3mm works pretty well. Angular will clean primer pockets, spherical will do a pretty good job, but the primer pockets won't come out spotless. A slurry doesn't develop since the brass isn't being cut, simply polished.
I took 300 or so milsurp berdan cases to see if the ceramic and/or our cleaner would break it down. It wasn't reloadable brass so I used it to see what the effects would be of soaking it for several days and then tumbling it for longer than necessary (by far - tumbled it 24/7 for two weeks without stop). No breakdown that I could see. I wouldn't suggest soaking/tumbling your brass for more than necessary to get it clean to your liking, but forgetting it overnight won't be a problem.
Some vibratory tumblers can handle wet ceramic, some can't. Thumlers, Lortone and RCBS all make rotary tumblers that are up to the task. Any rock tumbler should do fine. Some folks have made their own for cheap with good results. I am in the process of making a large rotary using a pony keg, motor, bearings and a couple of shafts. I *should* be able to clean a 5 gal bucket at a time if it works as I hope.
In any event, none are as cheap as a vibratory, but as with the ceramic, they are a one time investment. One great thing about them is they are quiet. I use the wet ceramic in my Lyman Pro Magnum 2500 and it does pretty well if I don't overload it too much. Not as good as the Thumlers, but much better than a simple soak.
HTH
BigSlick
And even then I wouldn't wash it. I'd just toss it.
Just to get them dirty again. 
