Homemade Weed Killer!

     
I despise pulling weeds.  They get in your flower gardens, vegetable gardens and even your driveway, when you have a gravel one!  I hate weeds so much that we have talked about changing our driveway to asphalt.  To alleviate the problems of the weeds there are many products out there that you spray or sprinkle on your problem areas and they kill the weeds.  These alternatives are full of chemicals and cost a lot of money for what they are, in my opinion.
     I started searching for a homemade version.  I have to say I was very skeptical in the beginning and thought I was wasting my time.  The commercial chemicals are so strong could there really be something that would work that I could make at home?
  I found a recipe that seemed to be very easy to make with ingredients I already had at home.  All you need is a bucket, blue dawn, vinegar and Epsom salt.  That is it!  What size bucket you ask? Well that all depends on how much you want to make.  I used my 5 gallon bucket because it was empty and handy.  I started with a gallon of vinegar because I didn’t want to waste it if it didn’t work.  That doesn’t save much does it.
     Here is the base recipe that can be modified for any amount, my husband says he needs 10 gallons of it, if it works.  YIKES!
                 1 Gallon of vinegar (I used the 5%  acidity.  There is a 6% cleaning vinegar out there)
                2 cups of plain Epsom salt 
              1/2 cup of BLUE Dawn dish detergent 
Why blue Dawn?  I didn’t know that there was any differences between the different Dawn detergents besides the color and fragrances.  Well, it turns out that between all the other Dawn detergents this is the same.  They have the same formula except what color or scent is used in it.  However, for the Original (or famous blue one) there is MORE grease fighting!  Who knew, right? 
   I did call them to verify this info and it is correct.  From now on I am purchasing the blue Dawn!
Now for the million dollar question…….DOES IT WORK??
Check out the weed the next day!
      I would say so!  And this is something I don’t have to worry about my dogs, cat or chickens getting into!  
    Give it a try and rid your yard of those weeds!
Note: I haven’t used this in my flower garden or vegetable garden.  I have only used it in my driveway.
Happy weeding!