Homemade Weed Killer- 3 Easy Ingredients

With all of the information on the dangers of manufactured weed killer, it’s no wonder many are choosing alternatives. We have all heard about the ongoing trials surrounding that certain popular weed killer, the conflicting information telling us about what it can do to our health, and the concerns for how these chemicals are affecting our ground water. So why risk it? If there is an easy alternative, why not give that a shot?

I have tried a few different variations trying to see what works and what doesn’t. This version of homemade weed killer with three easy ingredients (that you probably have already) worked the best.

What I have learned is that you need to really saturate the weed so the leaves are covered and soaked. For this reason, this version works best on small, sidewalk type weeds. Obviously, you still have to pull them. But pulling weeds is much easier when they are dead. Not to mention you don’t have to worry about them sprouting right back up. I would avoid using it on beds or gardens, as the ingredients will saturate the soil and could adversely affect the plants you want to grow there.

Ingredients:

If you want to give it a shot, here is what you need:

• 1/4 cup Blue Dawn Dish Soap
• 1 cup Salt
• 1 gallon Distilled White Vinegar 5-8%

Mix the ingredients together in a plastic tank sprayer. These are about $10 and available at any hardware store.

The rationale of these ingredients is the vinegar and salt are desiccants, meaning they draw all of the moisture out of the leaves and dehydrate the plant, thus it dies. The soap works to break down the natural waxy coating found on most leaves. This allows the salt and vinegar to be better absorbed.

Really saturate the weeds. Wait 24-48 hours and get pulling! Check out my before and after.

Next, lets talk about Greenwashing. Check out this post