Bailey 5431 Universal Drain Rod Set in Carry Bag (3 Pieces)

I bought the Bailey 5431 Universal Drain Rod Set (3 Pieces) from Amazon and I’m very pleased with the quality. The rods feel sturdy and well-made, with solid connections that screw together easily and securely. They’re strong enough to tackle blocked drains without feeling flimsy or bending under pressure. The carry bag is a nice bonus – keeps everything tidy and makes storage straightforward. For a 3-piece set, it’s very practical for general household drain clearing and ideal if you don’t want to spend a fortune on professional tools. Overall, a reliable and good-quality drain rod set that does exactly what it’s meant to do. Would definitely recommend for DIY drain maintenance. ***NOTE:When using these rods never turn them anti clockwise while you are pushing rods in a drain or a chimney or you risk unscrewing them and giving yourself a big problem.***

This Drain Rod Set is exactly the sort of tool every household needs — and it’s even better knowing it’s from Bailey, a manufacturer I trust for well-made, durable products. This set is robust and effective, and the carry bag keeps everything neat and easy to transport. Whether I’m clearing a slow sink drain or tackling a tougher clog further down the line, the rods twist together securely and give you the reach and leverage you need without feeling flimsy or frustrating to use. What really stood out to me was the value — the Amazon price was much better than what I saw at my local hardware store, and the quality easily matches or exceeds many more expensive alternatives.

Bailey make good rods, very good rods in fact. HOWEVER the quality control must be lacking because the finish on products is now often hit and miss. The latest ones are covered in metall swarf, perfect to get into fingers (and they do), so need cleaning up, this should be done in the factory as part of the manufacturing process. The bag supplied is also not the best quality, it looks as though the material inside is cracked, no idea why.

Never used rods before and read some awful reviews on here about some 'budget' rods snapping, so I thought I would pay extra for some quality rods. And at £25.49 with three very useful tools AND the carry case, this was a bargain ( A 'Tin Shed' is currently selling this for £39.99. I realised today whilst using these rods that I would need some more NOW....could not wait for delivery as the weather is due to get much colder this week. The local 'Tin Shed' sold me a set of 4 BLACK Bailey rods for £14.99, I was so gutted as they were not as heavy duty (ie made of slightly thinner walled tubing so more flexible, not that reassuring when rodding silted up rainwater drains), I could've bought another set of Blues for a little over £10 more with case and tools (and an additional 6 more heavy duty rods)...Dohhhh!!! Anyway, these blue rods are quality, well made slightly less flexible which makes them more heavy duty (as thicker tubing), so great if you are trying to power through thick silt (mostly grit washed off from those old fashioned red roof tiles) in a rainwater drain. Maybe if you need more flexibility these may not be for you, but they were perfect for the my purposes. The most useful tools for drain and gutter clearing have been included, usually you have to buy the drop scraper separately in a budget set, all of these come in a superb carry case, which you would have to buy separately with a budget set so this set represents amazing quality for amazing value!! I found the worm screw attachment particularly useful as the silt deposits were compacted and had to be loosened by churning them up allowing the rods to advance further down the pipe run. Don't forget the mantra 'TWIST CLOCKWISE ONLY' or you will regret it, especially if using a drop scraper that gets stuck down a pipe. And make sure you check all joints are screwed tightly together before and during the rodding as the rods can work themselves loose when being twisted the right way because of friction or being caught on something on the ground. I attached my garden hose to the rods wth cord ties, sent it down the drainpipe with a direct jet at full mains water pressure this allowed the rods to advance even further and more easily, and when withdrawn quickly (turn off the water first!!) brought up a lot of silt, did this a few times and then lastly set the hose on a wide conical jet, made sure it was just inside the pipe before giving it full mains pressure and slowly advancing the rods (and hose) up the pipe thus cleaning the pipe walls. Oh ! You do need to be quite fit to use these in a long blocked drain pipe, it is quite the workout, and be prepared for a serious amount of mess ! Job Done !!! .... No need to pay D. Rod £200 + to clear drains ... Result !!!

The price of having the chimney swept went from £35 last year to £45 this year. So, I thought to do it myself. I was concerned about three things: the brush (baileys 12 inch) getting stuck up the chimney; knocking bricks out as I swept; great plumes of soot filling the room. I have a traditional old chimney on a coal fire. I removed the damper (hinge thing at the top of the fire) and placed dust sheets liberally. The best advice I would give is to get a carboard box. This is what I did/learned. I taped, with gaffer tape, the unhinged lid of the box to the fire - like a funnel - a bit like holding a dust pan under the opening of the chimney. I taped every joint of the rods with gaffer tap and I made certain to only turn the rods clockwise. I put the nozzle from the vacuum cleaner up the chimney to cope with dust. The soot that came out was heavy rather than dusty (I am thinking of Laurel and Hardy for some reason). The soot fell into the cardboard box and did not fill the room. The brush went up with ease - turning clockwise as I went. I encountered no tight spots (it's a chimney). The chimney had not been swept for over a year. It definitley needs doing every year. I got almost of bucket of soot from the sweeping. I swept the chimney twice - making a better job of it than the professional I hired last year (I had to remove a lot of soot he left behind). I would recommend these rods and would not purchase anything cheaper. They have a good tight thread and the right amount of flexibilty. In fact - the rods gave me the confidence to do the job. Half an hour to sweep the chimney - an hour to clean up - wash the vacuum cleaner. I am 100% happy with the job/tools. Hope this helps.

I'm really delighted that I bought this set, which has enabled me to clear my blocked sewage drain very easily. In my case I had to unlock it between two inspection holes, and there was a 90 degree bend, but it worked perfectly. If you've got blocked drains and you're happy to try and unblock it yourself, then go for it! JUST REMEMBER TO FOLLOW A FEW SIMPLE RULES, which I will mention in a moment. It may look daunting if your drains are backed up and risen to the top of the inspection cover, or maybe its overflowed and you need to wear wellies just to get next to the inspection cover. Don't worry, hold your nerve and start working on it slowly and steadily. The first thing to do is to make sure you're properly protected, wear your oldest clothes and rubber gloves. if there is more than one inspection cover, get them both off so you can see what's happening. If it's blocked you'll probably have a head of water that will provide the downward pressure to clear the system, once you've removed the blockage. On the other hand, if you've not used your taps or loo recently, much of the water may have slowly drained away to leave a thick sludge. If this is the case, then get plenty of water in there, preferably with your hosepipe. If no hosepipe is available, then half a dozen buckets of water will help. Whatever the situation you will need a head of water to provide the downward pressure to shift it all into the sewers, once you've removed the blockage. The next thing to do is to start using the clearing rods. Try using the one with the corkscrew-like end to start with (in fact that is all I needed, and I would avoid using the others if you don't need to, as there is more of a chance they will get stuck, and you really don't want that). Put two together by screwing the second on clockwise and push the corkscrew end into the outlet channel at the bottom of the inspection cover. MAKE SURE YOU ALWAYS TURN THE RODS SLOWLY **CLOCKWISE** AS YOU USE THEN. IF YOU ACCIDENTALLY TURN THEN ANTICLOCKWISE AND A SECTION UNSCREWS IN THE PIPE, THEN YOU REALLY DO HAVE A PROBLEM. ALSO, MAKE SURE YOU MOVE THE ROD ASSEMBLY FORWARD IN SHORT 6 INCH THRUSTS BACKWARDS AND FORWARDS, SO THAT ANY BLOCKAGE IS DISPERSED AND 'LIQUEFIED' RATHER THAN COMPACTED [By the way, if you're not sure what the outlet channel looks like at the bottom of the inspection hole (because its blocked), look up some pictures online!]. As you put more of the rod assembly in, add another section and don't forget to carry on turning it slowly clockwise as you use it. Keep doing this until you clear the blockage or get to the end of the straight section. If there is a bend you should have another inspection hole, so just repeat the process again and steadily move it backwards and forwards as you go, to disperse it rather than compact it. KEEP IT TURNING SLOWLY CLOCKWISE AS YOU MOVE IT. If you start to feel some resistance (much as you do if you put your welly into mud) then just jiggle it backwards and forwards and 'feel' it being dispersed as you do it. You'll know when you have finally broken through the last part of the blockage because the head of water will start to send the water down the pipe, along with any dispersed material. Once it all moving, slowly retract the rod assembly until it's all out. Then you can use a hand brush and a hose pipe to clear any accumulated debris, sending it down the pipe with a good flow of water, preferably from a hose pipe Finally, after you've cleaned the inspection hole and washed everything away, just check that water from all the taps, the bath and loo are running freely into the drains. Do each individually of course. You might find that you need to unblock the pipe into the inspection chamber or pipe from say a tap or the loo before you've finally declared that its all be done and is working fine. A gushing flexible hose is often sufficient for this. If it's all working well, put the covers back on carefully (make sure the rim engages fully) and give yourself a well-earned pat of the back and have that cuppa you're gasping for! :-)

I got these as I had a lot of nasty stuff stuck in our waste duct, we live in a rural area and I had to clean the duct from the back of our property to the street. I found these initially on some website which recommended tools for unblocking pipes and when I found they're on amazon as well they had really good reviews. In the pack you get 10 rods, each is probably a meter long (around 3 feet), you also get some attachements. Going off the sellers website the first attachement is for pulling stuff along, best suited for when you're cleaning your gutters. This wont move any blockage, the way it works its collapsible so when you push it it looks like - 'D' but when you pull it it opens up and drags anything with it 'O' - I hope that makes sense. The second attachement, is a plunger, which I didnt really use when I was cleaning my drains, it didnt help. The last attachement is really what you need when unblocking drains, it has a spiral shape made from decent quality metal. I attached it when trying to clean the underground blockage and it did the trick. The only problem I found was the rods are very difficult to move and twist the further they go, so be mindful. Also get yourself some good grip gloves, when you get water on your hands you might find it difficult at least to twist the rods and unblock your blockage. The rods are bendable, they arent super flexible so you will need to put some force when getting them in at an angle but they dont feel as if they'll snap when you do it. Overall a good product and saved me having to pay out to get Pro's in. Important; be mindful in which way you're turning and twisting the rods, the last thing you want is to unscrew them by mistake and have them stuck in your drains.

Very pleased with this set of rods, saved me a lot of money by not having to get a professional out. The only criticism I have is they are not locking rods, so you have to remember to keep turning the rods clockwise as you go. Otherwise you could end up loosing in rods in the pipe.