I think toilet paper works well for getting crap off your surface....oooppps....wrong kind of crap.
:p


Soak it in the bathtub in hot water for awhile and use a kitchen sponge with palmolive to break it up.

Maybe a diluted solution of TSP would work but I'd be careful not to damage the rod finish with to strong of a mix. Maybe try it on a cheap rod first. Good luck.