Homemade weed killers have their place, but they are often more dangerous and toxic than people realize. Typical homemade weed killer recipes are based on vinegar, boiling water, strong acetic acid, lemon juice and liquid dish soap.

Vinegar and acetic acid should only be used under safety precautions. Vinegar is a great multipurpose product, but regular white vinegar solution is typically too weak to do much damage to plants. While 5% vinegar can work, 8% vinegar or higher is needed to really make an effective weed killer. High percentage vinegar should be dealt with extreme caution, and you should always wear protective gear.

Boiling water is simple, but it requires much more time and risk than spraying a concentrate like Torched. Why boil water and walk back and forth from your kitchen to your garden when you can just spray one product on your soil?

While homemade weed killers are admirable, the acetic acid concentration has to be really high to kill weeds, and at that point, the cost might not justify the added risk. We urge you to be careful and use protective gear if you decide to attempt to make your own formula to kill weeds.