Animal friendly weedkiller recipe

Clive has just bought this recipe off the internet and asked me to share it with you all. He knows I am paranoid about any kind of pesticides being placed where Henry has access to, so he did some research and came up with this.

I wouldn't let Henry go in the area we treat whilst we do it, but feel happier that there isn't anything lurking about in the air or on the ground that could hurt him the next day or so.

We've not tried it yet, we're going to have a go over the weekend

I hope it may be of use to some of you

To make 1 gallon of weedkiller

6 pints of warm water
1 cup of table salt
3 cups of white vinegar
1 tablespoon of liquid soap (like fairy liquid)
1 tablespoon of baking soda

Step 1

Mix everything together making sure the salt is completely dissolved.

The soap works to break down the waxy surface on the leaves, allowing the vinegar to work more efficiently. It also helps the solution to stick to the leaves, giving it time to kill the weed.

Step 2

Fill a spray bottle with the solution and spray weeds thoroughly. The solution will kill any plant it comes in contact with. Use care to avoid over-spray to neighbouring plants. Small weeds will shrivel and die within 24 hours. Repeat application if regrowth occurs from the roots.

Step 3

Pour the solution directly on the roots of large weeds that have extensive root systems. Plants like burdock may take a day or two to die off. Once the root withers and becomes soft, pull the root from the soil.


You spray this solution directly on the weeds, preferably on a hot day. One thing to remember with this solution is to not get it on anything you don?t want to kill. It is non-selective in what it kills meaning it will kill any plant life it comes in contact with .



If you don't want to spray this natural weed killer solution near your desirable plants you can wipe the solution on the leafy surface of the weeds you wish to kill with a cloth. It is advisable that you wear rubber gloves to do this as the vinegar solution is acidic and can burn sensitive skin.

I'd be interested to hear if anyone does have a go as to what the success rate is.

Thanks for posting about this, i have just been saying will have to use weedkiller this year, the garden has become very overgrown(n i'm not good at gardening). Have always battled with trying to dig them up, n not used anything because of the animals, but it seems to make it worse Have all the ingredients here too so will get mixing

That sounds interesting. I was always paranoid about weed killers so never used any when Ollie was with us.

Handy to know for when we get our next bundle little bundle of fur.

Ohh let us know how you get on

Aww, I bet you can't wait I think Henry would be quite good at weeding, he has managed to pull out the bedding plants we have put into tubs, little monster, he comes back indoors absolutely black with compost all round his chops

thank you for this, i will be trying it next week

I do not use weed killer I use boiling water for all the weeds that grow in the cracks of my paving slabs, works a treat, non toxic and gets rid of the ants too.

I will certainly have to give it a go, thankyou for sharing that with us as I am also paranoid of using chemicals anywhere near the dogs.
If anyone is doing it before I get round to it please let us know how you found it.


My son uses boiling water and says it works, but I tried that on the grass and weeds that grow on my patio and they seemed to love it and carried on growing.