A drain cleaning cable for use with a drain cleaner. The drain cleaning cable includes an inner core having a first end and a second end, and an outer wire concentrically surrounding the inner core, where the outer wire is helically wound in a first direction to form a plurality of consecutive coils, and where the outer wire has a first end and a second end. A first connector engages with the first end of the inner core and the first end of the outer wire, where the first connector is configured to attach the drain cleaning cable to a drain cleaning element. The second end of the inner core and the second end of the outer wire are received within the drain cleaner.