A cleaning fan has shared her trick for getting rid of annoying and unsightly weeds around their patio. Chantel Mila, more popularly known as Mama Mila on TikTok, shared some of the easiest home hacks ‘you wished you’d known sooner’.
In a recent video, Chantel shared her home remedy for dealing with pesky patio weeds without the need for commercial weed killers. It only uses two ingredients, both of which you’re more than likely to have in your kitchen. The star of the show? Vinegar.
In a spray bottle, mix one cup of white vinegar with one tablespoon of washing-up liquid. Once mixed, spray the solution over any weeds peeking out of your patio.
Vinegar is a potent liquid that can help effectively kill weeds, making them easy to remove. Better Homes & Gardens explained that a vinegar-based solution works best on smaller, annual weeds. Make sure that the solution is applied liberally to the weeds so that the roots soak up the vinegar.
Vinegar can be an effective home remedy due to its acidic nature. It contains acetic acid, which acts as a herbicide.
Acetic acid breaks down the cell walls of the weed, causing them to dry out and eventually die. Vinegar will damage any plant it touches, and it has no residual effect on the soil, so new weeds can still sprout.
When mixed with vinegar, washing-up liquid acts as a surfactant, helping kill weeds. This means it helps the solution stick to the weed’s leaves, allowing the vinegar and salt to penetrate and dry out the plant.
So, to dig deeper, you may need a specialist chemical solution. The Spruce advised applying the solution in the morning or evening, but not at the hottest time of day, otherwise it will dry out before it has a chance to work.
When it comes to getting rid of perennial weeds, like dandelions, it might be more effective to use a weed puller that will take the whole plant, including the root, out of the ground.
However, BHG warned that these types of solutions will only kill the tops of weeds, leaving the roots in the ground to sprout new shoots. Some experts recommend adding salt to the solution, but the experts at BHG warned that a weed killer solution can build up in the soil and damage it so nothing else will grow in that area.