Hot take: I used to hate fabric cleaning rods until a clog proved me wrong

For 5 years I was dead set on using only steel rods for every job. Last month I had a tough creosote clog in a house near Portland that just would not break up. After 45 minutes of fighting it I grabbed a fabric rod from my buddy's truck on a whim and it cleared in like 3 passes. The flex just works better on those tight spots. Has anyone else switched materials after swearing one off for years?

2 comments

2 Comments

charlesanderson28d ago

Whoa hold on there. I gotta call something out real quick. Fabric rods aren't actually better for tight spots in every case. They flex more but they also lose a lot of torque when you're trying to push through a really nasty clog. The reason yours worked that day is probably because you already spent 45 minutes breaking up the hard part with the steel rod. The fabric rod just finished what you started. Steel rods are still better for initial breaks on hard clogs, the fabric ones just feel easier once the worst is already done. I've seen guys switch and then get stuck with a fabric rod jammed in a pipe because it bent sideways and caught on a fitting. Don't throw out your steel rods just yet.

anna56727d ago

Lol yeah I love when guys act like fabric rods are some kind of magic fix. It's like saying a butter knife is better than a steak knife because it didn't cut you, while ignoring you already hacked the steak apart with the steak knife.