HOMEMADE WEED KILLER - IT WORKS AND SAVES $$$

Recently I had been considering buying a commercial weed killer just to use around my patios and driveways.  You know where I mean – those little cracks where a weed starts peeking through and before you know it you have a full-grown plant in the middle of your patio.  If you let this go on for too long, before you know it you will be weed-whacking your patio once a week!  Being against using any harsh chemicals that might be harmful to animals, humans, or the environment, I usually pick all these weeds by hand (Yes, I really do.).  However, last week a post went around on Facebook for Weed-Be-Gone Homemade Weed Killer.  I was intrigued by the recipe and became determined to try it out. 

Right off the bat I was not thrilled that the recipe called for Dawn dish soap since it contains a few ingredients I prefer not to use for potentially harmful environmental reasons: 
(methylisothiazolinone, sodium lauryl sulfate, and sodium laureth sulfate).  

I don't even use regular dish soap in my home anymore (I use Dr. Bronners liquid castile soap instead.). However, after much research, and despite the fact that there are some concerns regarding the environment, I still think using the dish soap is the lesser of two evils when compared to the commercial brand weed killers.  I would choose to have a tablespoon of Dawn dish soap infiltrate into my groundwater rather than RoundUp’s potentially carcinogenic ingredients.

I have modified the recipe to work with a smaller 1-liter pump sprayer as making a gallon or more of the product seemed wasteful (I do not see myself using it that much plus the large sprayers are expensive and need to be stored somewhere.).  Instead I purchased a 1-liter pump garden sprayer (50% off) at RiteAid for $3.99 plus tax.  Also, after much research regarding the ingredients and their purposes, I have determined that this homemade weed killer should only be used on weeds in the patio or driveway or anywhere far away from plants and soil I do not want to harm. In my gardens I will continue to maintain the weeds by pulling them by hand or raking.  

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I learned a tremendous amount about the different recipes:  http://www.garden-counselor-lawn-care.com/vinegar-weed-killer.html

Here is a more detailed explanation of each of the ingredients and the roles they play: http://www.garden-counselor-lawn-care.com/home-made-weed-killer.html

The three  ingredients are vinegar, salt, and dish soap.  The good news is that it does NOT matter what kind (brand, etc.) you use.  
Here’s why:

• Vinegar – whether it is white, apple cider, distilled or not, it is an acid.  The acid will kill most weeds, but not all since it cannot be absorbed into leaves if they have a waxy type of coating on them.
  
• Salt – a natural desiccant (draws out moisture). This will kill what vinegar will not however it is very bad for soil.  It is definitely recommended only for use on driveways and patios. You can use household salt, road salt, melting salt, sea salt, coarse salt, Epsom salt, etc.  
  
• Dish soap – the dish soap, being designed to fight grease, will break down the waxy surface of the leaves that would otherwise prevent the vinegar from being absorbed.  The oils in the soap also help to kill the plant as well as making it easy to see what weeds you have already sprayed (shiny leaves after spraying).

Modified recipe:
4 cups vinegar 
½ cup salt 
1 tablespoon dish liquid 

(I used white vinegar,  Epsom salt and blue Rite Aid brand dish soap because it was $2.39 for 25 oz compared to $3.99 for 25 oz of Dawn)

I added the ingredients to a 1-liter pump sprayer and let it sit until the next morning.  Before work I sprayed the weeds on a small patio made of rubber tiles (made from recycled tires!). I returned home 8 hours later and the weeds were DEAD!  Using just a strong bristle brush/broom I was able to sweep the weed away!  The weed killer was a success and definitely saved me MONEY and I still have plenty of the soap left for future batches of weed killer ☺

A couple of last minute pointers:

• You really want to soak the area a lot where the weed is in order to kill the root.  If you do not do this you might be spraying a lot more often.  This is also another reason why you only want to use this spray on patios and driveways and NOT in or around your gardens.  
  
• Spraying in the morning does work best as the addition of sunlight during the day speeds up the killing process.