If you’ve got a patio or paving stones in your garden, you’ll know that one problem can cause massive issues – weeds. They can easily grow in between the slabs of concrete, making your garden look overgrown and uncared for.
It can be tricky to know how to deal with weeds without relying on harsh chemical weedkillers. And although you can pull them out by hand, this is often a time-consuming task, and more often than not they’ll return anyway. But there’s one product that you can spray on patio weeds that will cause them to weaken and die fast.
According to the experts at House Digest, rubbing alcohol can serve as an excellent way to get rid of weeds for good. However, it should really only be used on patio weeds and not around any other plants, for a very important reason.
They said: “The challenge with most weed killers, including rubbing alcohol, is their non-selective nature. This means they don’t just target weeds; they can also harm other vegetation, such as your beloved plants and lawn grass.”
So using it in between your paving stones – where you’ve likely not got any other plants or grass growing – is a good shout, as there’s less risk of contamination.
How to use rubbing alcohol on weeds
Rubbing alcohol, also known as isopropyl alcohol, is a good weed killer because it draws moisture out of the plant, drying it up and making it ‘weaken and die’ according to the experts.
It’s also an emulsifier, meaning it breaks down the rubbery exterior of weeds, killing them quicker.
You can add two tablespoons of rubbing alcohol into a spray bottle filled with water to make your own weed killer. Then, simply spray it on your patio wherever you’ve noticed weeds start to pop up.
It’s most effective if you do this on a sunny day, as the sunshine will naturally help the weeds to dry out quicker. The experts continued: “However, the alcohol solution will have a similar effect on any other plants that it touches, so it’s important to spray it only on the weeds.
“If weeds pop up around your houseplants, you can also pour the mixture on a cotton ball and directly rub it on the weeds to prevent it from getting to your plants.”
