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Here are four ideas for non-toxic weed killers, if you want to keep your yard free of potentially harmful chemicals. There are products on the market that are billed as pet/kid-safe, but personally, we’re more comfortable with the options in this article.
These ideas require a little more effort and sometimes repeated application. However, these recipes for non-toxic weed killers use household ingredients and *most* don’t require waiting before you play a game of soccer (careful around the borax!).
Disclaimer: Nothing in this blog post will give you a perfect yard of weed-free grass. The beautiful lawn in the photo below can really only be achieved with traditional chemicals:
However, it’s still possible to find the middle ground between the lawn above and the dandelion field below. If you put some effort into non-toxic weed killers, you can avoid this situation:
Simplest Non-Toxic Weed Killer: Boiling Water
Yes, seriously! If you need to kill a few weeds and don’t want to permanently destroy your grass or change the pH or salinity of the soil, pour boiling water on a weed and it will die. This is the simplest of non-toxic weed killers and short-term, it really works!
Boiling water will also kill grass (which will regrow), so just be careful where you pour. I’ve tried this method on dandelions and it’s mildly effective. The boiling water definitely kills the weed, but dandelions will eventually come back, unless you remove the entire root system.
To get rid of dandelions, you truly have to dig out the entire tap root. They are amazingly adept at regenerating if even a tiny sliver of root is left in soil. When you pull plants, I recommend this tool over this dandelion puller, because it’s much easier to get the entire taproot. It’s also a lot cheaper!
Also Try This Cheap Option: Vinegar
Ok, so these methods aren’t all “recipes” since the first two are just single ingredients. Vinegar is a non-toxic (to humans) weed killer. Actually, it will kill any above-ground plants, so be careful where you pour or spray it. Vinegar is acetic acid and it draws moisture out of the leaves and kills the top growth.
I keep a spray bottle of vinegar under the sink, which I use to clean my house. It’s my go-to, quick weed killer when weeds sprout up between cracks in our driveway or sidewalk.
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Sometimes, I buy a gallon of white vinegar and just pour it along the seams of concrete on our driveway. It seeps into the soil and is soaked up by those weeds that I’m unable to pull.
Some weeds will regrow where you spray vinegar, but it can be a short-term fix. You’ll see the top growth bleach in the sun within hours and the weeds will die back within a day or two; just be prepared to spray again a few weeks later.
I’ve read that vinegar can change the pH of soil, but I’ve also observed that it doesn’t seem to kill the roots of plants… grass always eventually recovers. You might want avoid this method in your flower or veggie gardens though.
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Recipe 1: Vinegar + Salt + Dish Soap
Mix in a spray bottle:
24 ounces vinegar
1/4 C table salt
1 tsp dish soap
This is my favorite recipe because it’s totally kid and pet safe and the ingredients are usually on hand.
The dish soap helps this solution coat the leaves of the plant, and the vinegar kills the leaves and stem above ground. Adding salt to the mix causes plants to absorb sodium from the soil which disrupts their ability to get vital nutrients.
You may need to spray this solution several times for maximum effectiveness, but eventually, weeds should disappear. Except dandelions – those beasts almost always return, so I still dig out the dead plants.
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While it’s totally safe for your kids and pets to run through, be careful when spot-treating dandelions in the grass. This salty weed killer is not selective, so please realize that all plants will be impacted by the high-salinity soil and it might take years for the soil to recover. It’s probably not a good weed killer for your veggie or flower garden beds, because it will create poor soil conditions for any future plants.
Recipe 2: Vinegar + Borax + Dish Soap
Mix in a spray bottle:
24 ounces vinegar
1/4 C borax
1 tsp dish soap
This recipe is arguably non-toxic, but that depends on your comfort level with borax. It’s commonly used in cleaning ingredients, but it’s not innocuous. As stated on the box, borax can irritate your skin, so wash your hands after handling it. Also, please don’t eat borax or pour it in your eyes, because both actions are dangerous. Fair warning.
Seriously though, don’t apply this to a veggie garden that you plan to harvest. Keep the box away from kids, period.
Now, if you’re comfortable handling borax, you can mix it up with vinegar and a little dish soap for this last weed killer.
I sprayed this mixture on weeds along a garden bed that lined our driveway, far enough away from the nice plants. We’ve been weeding like crazy before a major mulch project, and this spray has been fairly effective. Here’s what weeds look like, next to healthy catmint, after a few hours in the sun.
Like the salt mixture, both of these non-toxic weed killers will destroy any plant material. Use caution if you apply them to garden beds or landscaped areas. I find these sprays are best for areas where no plant life should grow, and I have not tested them on dandelions in the grass.
Last, consider where your kids and pets roam before you apply this borax spray. I only used this spray on areas of the yard where my kids wear shoes or just don’t venture. I’m not terribly worried about them encountering trace amounts of diluted borax, but I do play it safe.
If that’s a major concern for you, then try the salt recipe above. Honestly, the only reason that I chose to try borax over salt is that I didn’t have enough salt on hand one day when I needed a weed killer.
***UPDATE: July 2021***
I’ve started using a new weed killer called Iron X that is billed as “safe for kids and pets” once it’s dry. I’ll let you be the judge of that through your own research, but I can tell you that it works pretty well on dandelions and clover. I first bought the spray bottle to try it out, but that doesn’t appear to be available (as of May 2023). Now I buy the concentrate online here and mix it in a spray bottle.
The idea with this weed killer is that broadleaf weeds absorb the chelated iron, which causes cell damage to the plant. It does not damage surrounding grass.
It does work as advertised, but it doesn’t prevent future dandelions, in my experience.
Best Weeding Tools
I mentioned above that I’ve tried a few weeding tools for dandelions. Ugh, they are so hard to battle without major chemicals. My best tip is to make sure the ground is soft or don’t bother weeding. If you break the plant and the tap root remains, you’ll see that weed again. I find it easiest to work on weeds first thing in the morning, or after a good rain, and these are the tools I like best.
This tall weed puller is my favorite tool for big dandelions and other larger weeds.
The tall size gives you more leverage than a handheld tool, like this one, but the small size comes in handy, too. Either way, the end should be forked.
NOT like this guy. At first, this tool is fun to push into the soil and spin around, but it almost never pulls the entire tap root. Plus, it’s hard to push the chunk of soil back out of it.
Good Luck Keeping Your Yard Weed-Free!
Do you have any other tips on effective and non-toxic weed killers? I would love to try some new ideas and I have no shortage of weeds… I hope you have good luck with them this summer!
Want to Read More?
To read more about our recent DIY projects and other tips, check out these posts:
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I’ve been learning a lot about weeding lately and your way of weeding can help me, thank you!