Homemade Organic Weed Killer

In order to keep those nasty, industrial chemicals found in the majority of commercial weedkillers out of your garden and to save you a little bit of money, try making your own weed killer from home. It only takes 3 simple ingredients and is super effective if used properly, all you need to do is mix it together and spray!

The Recipe

1. 4 cups white vinegar
2. 1⁄4 cup salt
3. 2 teaspoons washing up liquid (dish detergent) 

White vinegar is very acidic so you can just go for the cheapest one in the store (usually about 5% acidity). You can look for ones that are more acidic (like horticultural vinegar which has 20% acetic acid!) as they are likely to work faster but they may be more expensive, this is really up to you but either way the weeds will still die.

Also it doesn’t really matter which kind of salt or washing up liquid you decide to use either. Don’t be afraid to cheap out when buying the ingredients for this mixture, after-all you’re just gonna be spraying them on your weeds!

For areas on and around your lawn

Seeing as you don’t to kill the grass as well as the weeds for areas such as these (unless you plan on laying more seed or are spraying on already bare patches) then you want to leave out the salt in the mixture. Salt isn’t good for your soil and is likely to stick around within it after the weeds have died, this makes it very difficult for the grass to grow so it should be avoided.

With either a spray bottle or a proper weed killer sprayer, add the white vinegar and one tablespoon of the washing up liquid, and give it a little mix  – you don’t want to overdo the mixing as the washing up liquid will foam up quite heavily. With the concoction ready to go just start spraying the weeds around the lawn, try to be as precise as possible to limit spray falling on the grass.

For areas like pathways, steps and driveways

Here you have no need to worry about soil so you can add the ¼ cup of salt to the mixture. First add the vinegar to the bottle and then the salt, make sure you have the lid closed tight as you need to give it a good shake in order for the salt to completely dissolve. After a thorough shake add the 2 teaspoons of washing up to the mixture and give it a little mix.

Again once you have this all ready you can begin spraying it over the weeds, again being careful not to get on your grass or plants – also don’t walk over any areas that have just been sprayed and then over your lawn, otherwise you’ll kill your grass.

In both cases just wait a few hours before checking the weeds, once you go back they should be completely shrivelled up. Just make sure you don’t over do the spraying as too much weed killer could destroy organisms within the soil.

If you found this post interesting then maybe you’d like to see some of my other content, like my robomower reviews? If so then head over to my Robot Lawn Mower Review Page, I’ve reviewed various models all designed for different purposes so if you’re in the market there won’t be a better place to go than here!