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If leaving dandelions in your yard is not an alternative, you can make your own dandelion and weed killer using inexpensive and safe household ingredients.

Ingredients

• 1 gallon of white vinegar
• 1 lb. table salt
• 8 drops of liquid dish soap

Instructions

Mix vinegar and salt in a pan on the stove top. (If you use a stainless steel pan that is grungy looking, it will acquire a like-new bright finish).

Bring to a boil so that the salt dissolves into the vinegar. Turn off the stove.

Stir in the dish soap.

Allow the mixture to cool enough so that it won’t burn you or melt your spray bottle. (You can let it cool completely if you aren’t in a hurry to go out and kill dandelions).

Pour the mixture into the bottle and spray on plants.

It is best to use a stream setting on your bottle and aim directly into the middle of the dandelion rosette so that you do not kill the surrounding grass.

Your dandelions will be dead in less than a day.

Cost Analysis of the Earth-Friendly Alternative

A one-gallon jug of generic vinegar cost $2.00. A one-pound container of salt cost $1.00. The cost of dish soap is nominal. The total cost for one gallon of non-toxic dandelion killer is $3.00.

So if you’re not into making salad, don’t want to substitute your coffee for roasted dandelion root, and not into making wine…you can brew up a batch of DANDELION KILLER – not sold in stores – distilled in the privacy of your own home…

Good luck with those nasty little beasties…

Shelby Cooper is the Cheap Chick with Green Tricks for almost anything.