Reading Time: 5 minutes Kill Weeds the Natural Way: This DIY Solution Costs Pennies!
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If you have a garden, you know that weeds can be a never-ending battle. It almost feels like as soon as you pull one out of the ground, another immediately appears in its place.
Even when you cover your garden area with landscaping plastic, weeds will still work through over time, or they will grow between the plastic and the mulch because sometimes, that’s where the weed seeds land.
For parents and pet owners killing weeds with store-bought or pre-made chemicals can often cause concern and worry.
Try this natural homemade weed killer that will put your mind at ease and kill the weeds without causing harm to your family.
If natural solutions are your favorite way to treat weeds, you will also want to learn how to prevent pests without chemicals.
Table of Contents
How Our DIY Weed Killer works
Mixing three everyday household products is an effective way to rid your gardens of unsightly weeds.
If you’re wondering how these simple household products work, the acid in salt and vinegar dries out the weeds. The dish soap helps the mixture to soak into the growing weeds rather than remaining on the leafy surface.
Start by measuring and mixing 1 gallon of white vinegar with 1 cup of salt and 1 tablespoon of dish soap. Mix this directly into a pump-style garden sprayer, a handle-held spray bottle, or a gallon of vinegar.
You can use everyday white vinegar and see great results. There is stronger vinegar on the market, such as Calyptus Vinegar which is 30% strength, compared to white vinegar, which is 6% concentrate.
When using a higher concentration of vinegar, gloves, and eye protection are essential to avoid any personal injuries.
As parents of 3 little kids, Force of Nature is our go-to all purpose cleaner. It's nontoxic but is EPA approved for use against Covid-19.
We love vinegar, but we use Force of Nature every day.
Once you have all of the ingredients combined, shake well to mix, find your weeds and spray generously.
Does Vinegar, Dish Soap and Salt Kills Weeds: Picture of Results
After 1-2 days, this is what a weed soaked in the vinegar and salt mix will look like.
Best Time to apply Our Homemade Weed Killer
This formula will work best when applied to weeds when the ground is dry, and you have a full day with no rain in the forecast if you can apply the mixture while the sun is still up. Spraying while the sun is still up.
If you spray on a sunny day, you will notice the leaves start to turn brown within a few hours.
Once you have located the unwanted weeds (are any weeds wanted), use the pump sprayer or a traditional spray bottle to get as close to the unwanted weed as possible and saturate the entire area.
Make sure you take caution to avoid spraying any flowers. This mixture could also cause the leaves or flowers to die.
While I’ve never had any issues with this solution affecting my grass, it’s best to keep the application to unwanted weeds to ensure your yard remains green and lush.
Is it safe to use This DIY Weed Killer In areas of pets and kids?
One of the best benefits of using this DIY weed killer is that it’s safe in areas where kids and pets play and roam.
One of the biggest draws to this DIY weed killer solution is that none of the ingredients are harmful to pets or children should they come into contact with them.
Does This DIY Weed Killer Also Kill Grass?
This method of getting rid of weeds can have an adverse effect on your grass if you spray a lot. It is best to use a direct stream spray focusing only on the weed your wish to eliminate.
Using a direct stream will ensure that the solution penetrates directly into the weed and not to the grass or flowers surrounding it.
Because this concoction contains salt, overuse can affect the soil in your spraying area. Too much salt in your soil can affect future plant growth.
another Green option To Kill Weeds
If you are worried about the surrounding area of the weeds you’re trying to eliminate; boiling water also works well to kill unwanted weeds.
You can use a funnel to direct the boiling water to the weeds you want to eradicate to avoid killing grass or flowers.
For this method, boil water in a kettle or stock pan and pour it directly over the weeds. The weeds may begin to die immediately, but over a day or two, they will wilt and die.
Getting to the Root of the problem
This method of killing weeds doesn’t always penetrate down to the roots. Therefore, the weed may resurface. I have had luck avoiding that by spraying this DIY weed-killer mixture several days in a row.
For large and more stubborn weeds try poking the middle of the weed with a screwdriver before spraying this DIY weed Killer to the center of the weed.
I’m also not a weed expert, but in my experience, I’ve had luck with this homemade weedkiller on all of the weeds I’ve applied it to. I can’t guarantee that this will work on every variation of weeds.
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Erin is the mother of identical twin girls and their slightly older brother. She is a domestic engineer, and previously had a career leading customer service teams for a major HVAC company. Cleaning without harsh chemicals, and cooking easy and usually healthy meals are part of Erin's daily life. She volunteers with youth leaders, and genuinely wants to help others win. Erin has a degree in Communications, with a focus on Broadcast Journalism.