Make Your Own Weed Killer With Vinegar and Dish Soap: In any backyard or yard, weeds can be a constant pain. Luckily, you can make a very powerful and eco-friendly weed killer with vinegar and dish soap that you already have at home.
This homemade pesticide is not only simple to make, but it is also better for the environment than many store-bought ones. Here are seven easy steps you can follow to make your own weed killer.
1. Get your stuff together
Make sure you have all the items and tools you need before you start. You’ll need the following to make this weed killer:
- White vinegar with at least 5% acetic acid is best.
- Dish soap—biodegradable soap works best
- A spray bottle
- A cup for measuring
- Something to mix things in
- A spoon or whisk
To keep chemicals from mixing, make sure the spray bottle is clean and free of any leftovers from before.
2. Weigh out the vinegar
Vinegar is the main ingredient in your weed killer. The acetic acid in vinegar helps kill weeds by drying them out. Use a measuring cup to get 2 cups of white vinegar.
If your weeds are really tough, you might want to use vinegar with a higher percentage of acetic acid, but be careful because it can be stronger.
3. Put dish soap in
As a detergent, dish soap is an important part of your weed killer. It makes it easier for the vinegar to stick to the weeds’ leaves. Put one tablespoon of dish soap into the vinegar.
Because the soap lowers the surface tension of the liquid, it can spread out more evenly and get deeper into the weeds.
4. Mix the answer
Thoroughly mix the vinegar and dish soap together. First, put the vinegar in a bowl or jug. Then, add the dish soap. Use a spoon or stirrer to slowly mix the ingredients together until they are well mixed. There shouldn’t be any different layers of vinegar and soap in the solution.
5. Put it in a spray bottle.
Be careful as you pour the fluid into the spray bottle. So that nothing spills, use a tube if you have to. Make sure the bottle’s lid is on tight to stop any leaks. Weed killer can be spread out more evenly with a spray bottle, which makes it more effective at killing weeds’ leaves and roots.
6. Use the weed killer
When you use the vinegar, pick a warm day because the heat will make it work better. You should spray the weed killer right on the leaves and roots of the weeds you want to get rid of.
It is important to cover the whole weed with vinegar because it needs to touch the whole area to work. Spraying plants you want to keep can also hurt them with the vinegar solution.
7. Keep an eye on it and reapply if needed
After you apply it, keep an eye on the area for a few days. In 24 to 48 hours, the weeds should start to wilt and turn brown. You can use the solution again if you see that some weeds are still growing well. Weeds that are hard to get rid of or have deep roots may need more than one treatment or other ways.
Conclusion
Using vinegar and dish soap to make your own weed killer is a cheap and eco-friendly way to get rid of plants you don’t want in your yard.
You can make a herbicide that works well, is easy to use, and doesn’t hurt the environment by following these seven steps: collecting ingredients, measuring, mixing, transferring, and applying. Be careful not to hurt your other plants when you use it, and do it again if the weeds won’t go away.