Vinegar Weed Killer: 8 Best Products To Kill Weeds Naturally

Roundup is one of the most common herbicides on the market, but while it may kill weeds effectively, it’s not nearly as safe as it advertises. Exposure to glyphosate, Roundup’s main ingredient, can increase the risk of contracting non-Hodgkins lymphoma by as much as 41%, and that’s not even getting into the risks it poses to animals.

Thankfully, there are safer, more natural alternatives to keeping your garden weed-free; the most popular of which use vinegar as the main ingredient.

There are a lot of vinegar weed killers on the market that are just as effective as Roundup without being nearly as toxic to you, your children, or your pets. In this guide, we’ve selected the eight best vinegar weed killers on the market and analyze them individually to find the #1 vinegar weed killer.

Read on to find out why vinegar-based herbicides are the most popular natural weed killers in the world.

Why Vinegar?

Vinegar’s main ingredient is acetic acid, and that gives it a lot of uses, including weed killing. Got crabgrass or dandelions all up in your lawn? Vinegar can handle it. Here are a few things you should know about vinegar and why it’s so good at dealing with weeds.

It’s non-selective. Since vinegar weed killers work by burning down cell walls and desiccating their targeted plant, you don’t need to worry about whether a plant will be affected. Just be careful when spraying; you don’t want to accidentally coat a plant you want to keep.

It’s fast. If you’re bringing enough vinegar to the garden, you’ll see results within hours, and all but the most stubborn of weeds will die overnight. Compare that to Roundup, which needs two weeks just to kill most of its targets!

It’s environmentally friendly. After your vinegar weed killer has done its work, it breaks down in the soil into natural byproducts. These don’t threaten your garden, or your pets, or you. You can safely use vinegar-based weed killers without worrying about any long-term effects.

It’s cheap. Most vinegar weed killers come in good quantities for very reasonable prices, and you can even stretch out a lot of them to get more mileage out of your investment. You won’t break the bank buying yourself a gallon or two of 20% vinegar!

It’s useful in other applications. If you’ve got some leftover vinegar, you can use it to clean a lot of things around your house. Its active ingredient is acetic acid and there are a lot of stains that will succumb to a good strong acid like that.

The Eight Best Vinegar Weed Killers

With so many products available on the market, it might be difficult to figure out which ones work best and which ones are just duds. Thankfully, we’ve done the work for you on that front. This list contains the eight best vinegar weed killers available.

Green Gobbler Vinegar Weed & Grass Killer

Green Gobbler is a classic horticultural vinegar, bearing only two ingredients: 20% corn vinegar, 80% water. That’s it. No additives, no extra ingredients, no chemicals to mess up your garden. You get commercial-strength vinegar at an excellent cost, and that strength is easily enough to kill most weeds you’re likely to encounter.

You can use it as-is, and it’ll kill most weeds you encounter. Alternatively, if you don’t have any stubborn weeds in your garden, you can dilute Green Gobbler 1:1 with water. This will take the vinegar concentration down to 10%, which remains effective against most common weeds while stretching your quantity a bit further. You can also add a dash of soap so that it sticks to the plant you’re spraying.

Remember to keep your protective equipment on, no matter what level of dilution you’re at. 10% vinegar is already quite a strenuous substance, and 20% vinegar can and will corrode skin if it has a chance. Don’t give it that opening; use long sleeves, long pants, closed shoes, waterproof gloves when handling it. A face mask wouldn’t go amiss, either.

You can also use it for other purposes beyond just weed killing! At that strength, it can easily deal with certain types of messes and stains, so if you’ve got more than you need, you can easily get something else done around the house. Got a coffee machine that needs cleaning? Something that needs descaling? 20% vinegar is enough to handle a lot of cleaning jobs.

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It’s available in four sizes: 1 gallon, 5 gallons, 55 gallons, and 275 gallons. As always, you get better prices per unit of volume when you buy in bulk, so figure out just how much weed killer your garden needs and how much you’ll use to figure out the best size to get.

Its main downside is that it’s a standard horticultural vinegar product, so it’s just made of vinegar and water. This is effective, but it can come up short if it’s diluted, which is why we recommend adding soap. It’s really up to you whether you want to keep it at full strength, or if you want to dilute it; either way works.

But that’s the only possible downside we can think of. Overall, Green Gobbler is one of the best of the vinegar weed killers on the market and it’s our top pick in this guide.

Doctor Kirchner Natural Weed & Grass Killer

Can you trust a product that puts a name right up front? Yes, if that’s the creator’s name and they’re willing to back up their product. That’s exactly the case with Dr. Rudy and Dan Kirchner, the brothers behind Dr. Kirchner Natural Weed Killer.

The brothers say that the formula is simply their Grandmother’s proven recipe, just updated for the times and strengthened. It comes ready to use, and it’s made of ocean salt water, commercial-strength food vinegar, and soap. The vinegar does the heavy lifting of killing weeds, aided by the salt for extra power, and the soap keeps the whole formula on the plant to ensure maximum effect.

Plants so sprayed start dying in hours and most weeds will generally die overnight, though you may need to give large established weeds a second spray to finish them off. There’s a reason the combination of vinegar, soap, and salt is so common: it works magnificently.

Since it’s a dedicated weed killer, we don’t advise using it in other capacities like we would other products that are pure vinegar. The salt especially can react with some of the stuff you’re cleaning, so keep Dr. Kirchner as a weed killer and get a different class of vinegar in case you need to clean something.

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You can get Dr. Kirchner Natural Weed Killer in a whole range of sizes: 2oz spray bottle, 32oz spray bottle, and 1-gallon, 2.5-gallon, and 5-gallon containers. You can also get 2-packs for the 32oz, 1-gallon, and 2.5-gallon sizes, in case you’ve got a lot of ground to cover.

There are only two downsides we can think of: price and lack of visual effect. Dr. Kirchner usually runs a little pricier than average for premixed weed killers, but not by all that much. The other is that even a thorough coating of Dr. Kirchner tends to produce very little visible browning of the sprayed plants until somewhere around 16 hours after application.

It’s an old, proven recipe, and the Kirchner brothers have updated it for the modern day. It’s an excellent ready-to-use formula that’s good for all gardens great and small.

ECO Garden PRO Organic Vinegar Weed Killer

Eco Garden Solutions advertises themselves as a supplier “for all of your organic gardening needs”. Currently, their product line consists of a lawn aerator and this weed killer. Both are excellent products, environmentally friendly, and just what you need for a garden that’s in tune with nature.

The weed killer is a ready-to-use formula made of natural white vinegar (8% acetic acid), organic rock salt (5%), and some biological components: specifically, biodegradable plant activators and fermentation-derived co-factors. The rest is all water. This entire combination makes for an effective weed-killing formula.

It’ll take effect within hours, and most weeds will die after 24 hours of being sprayed. It’s the combination of acetic acid and salt that make it both effective and safe; you’ll notice a bit of a vinegar smell after spraying, but it’s not bad. Even better, you don’t quite need full PPE to spray it.

We still recommend that you cover up all your skin and wear gloves, but you won’t need a mask. Some users have reported that they’ve accidentally got it on themselves, to no ill effect. (This doesn’t mean that you should bathe in it, but it does mean that you’re not in danger from accidental exposure.)

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It only comes in 1-gallon containers, and a spray head isn’t included, so you’ll have to use a sprayer of your own to get Eco Garden Pro into action. Not too much of a downside, but inconvenient all the same. It runs about the average price for ready-to-use weed killers.

Its bigger downsides lie in its composition. It’s effective, but it struggles against larger, more established weeds. This is because it relies on the combination of salt and vinegar to do the killing, where other vinegar weed killers focus on sheer acidity. You’ll need a second spray for the tough ones. Also, its percentage of salt is another downside: too much salt can seep into the soil and negatively affect fertility.

But if you want a vinegar herbicide that’s safe and effective, Eco Garden Pro Weed Killer is just the product you need. It’s no threat at all to you even while you’re using it, and it’ll still kill weeds effectively.

Energen Carolina 20% Vinegar Weed & Grass Killer

Many organic farmers use vinegar as their herbicide of choice. It’s easy to see why: it’s quick-acting, effective, and it fits their system, letting them remove unwanted weeds while avoiding non-organic herbicides. It’s for this exact purpose that horticultural vinegar exists, like this 20% concentration from Energen Carolina.

It’s a standard horticultural vinegar product: 20% acetic acid, with water making up the rest. You can use it straight from the container because 20% vinegar is enough to kill even stubborn weeds. Or you can also dilute it 1:1 with water to produce a 10% vinegar product. This will preserve most of the strength while stretching out the quantity, so you get more out of your investment. You can also add a bit of dish soap to give the vinegar some grip and thus increase its effectiveness.

As always, handle with care. 20% vinegar is pretty strong, so don’t get it on your skin or eyes, as it stings quite a bit. Make sure that when you’re spraying or diluting, you have protective equipment on with no skin exposed. A mask may also be advisable to avoid vinegar fumes.

Beyond its weed-killing uses, you can also turn it to other tasks. A strong natural acid like vinegar has a lot of uses around the house, mainly in the realm of cleaning. Few stains stand up to concentrated vinegar.

It’s available in two sizes. For small applications, there’s a 32oz (1 quart) spray bottle, while large areas are better covered by the 1-gallon container. This means that you can get 64oz or 2 gallons if you dilute down to 10% concentration. As always, experiment to see how much you need so you can get an amount that fits both your garden and your budget.

But Energen Carolina’s 20% vinegar isn’t perfect. Its main downside is one common to all horticultural vinegars: the lack of extra ingredients. This isn’t much of a concern if you’re using it straight from the container, but if you’re diluting it to double the quantity, we highly recommend adding soap to get the most out of the resulting 10% vinegar.

Whether you’re getting a quart or a gallon, Energen Carolina can supply you with all your vinegar needs, and that excellent 20% vinegar will take care of both weeds and stains with equal ability.

Harris Vinegar Weed and Weed Grass Killer

With all the demand for horticultural vinegar, it’s no surprise to see lots of manufacturers offering it. It’s cheap and easy to make, and organic farmers will look for horticultural vinegar, so it’s a win-win for all parties. This product is supplied by P.F. Harris Company of Georgia, well-known for their pesticides and other gardening supplies.

Harris supplies their horticultural vinegar the same way everyone else does: 20% acetic acid and water, nothing else in it. You can use it straight, especially for tough weeds, or you can dilute it with water to stretch it out a bit more. We recommend a 1:1 dilution, which will produce a 10% vinegar product, quite enough to kill most weeds while still doubling how much you have. A bit of soap would also go well to add some grip to the vinegar.

Since it’s pure vinegar, you can put it to other uses, usually cleaning. Few stains stand up to 20% acetic acid, though we recommend against using it on stone or hardwood, as those surfaces will break down just as readily as the stains you’re trying to clean out.

It comes in two quantities: a 1-gallon container with a sprayer head and a 32oz (1 quart) spray bottle. As always, consider how much garden you have to figure out how much vinegar you need. Price tends to run average for horticultural vinegar, though the 1-quart bottle is a bit cheaper than typical.

One frequent complaint from buyers is that Harris’ included sprayer isn’t very good, often breaking down not long after the product arrives. You’d be better off with a proven sprayer of your own to dispense it, whether a bottle for smaller applications or a larger pump sprayer. And there’s the usual trouble of horticultural vinegar, in that it’s just vinegar with no additions, so if you’re diluting down to 10%, we recommend adding soap as above to give it a little grip and make it more effective.

Overall it’s a cheap, effective natural herbicide that will kill largely anything it encounters while also being usable for a lot of other tasks. Whether you dilute it or keep it at standard concentration, it’ll do the job you need it to do.

Natural Armor 30% Vinegar Pure Natural & Safe Industrial Strength Concentrate

Natural Armor is better known for its pesticides and its flagship product of animal repellent. They take pride in all their products using natural ingredients, hence the name. Among their lineup is this excellent 30% horticultural vinegar, useful for a lot of purposes, weed-killing foremost among them.

At 30% acetic acid, this is six times stronger than your usual table vinegar, and can be used either as-is for the tough weeds, or diluted to stretch out the quantity; either will do as you deem necessary. If you’re diluting, 1:1 with water will produce a nicely strong 15% result, while you can achieve maximum quantity by diluting 1.5 parts of water to 1 of Natural Armor to produce 10% acetic acid. If you’re going down to 10%, we recommend also adding soap to give the result some grip.

Beyond its use as a weed killer, there are also the various uses that you can put a strong acid to. 30% vinegar can get rid of a lot of stains and messes, but be careful where you use it; don’t put it on stone or hardwood since the acid will readily eat through those materials just as it attacks the stains.

It only comes in 1-gallon containers. You can get it with or without a sprayer head, depending on whether or not you already have a garden sprayer of your own. It comes at the same price as most 20% horticultural vinegars, but that comes at the cost of safety; you might be able to get away with minimal PPE for 20% vinegar, but you cannot do the same for 30%.

That’s also its main weakness. The same strength that makes it so effective also makes it a pain to handle. Do not play around with 30% acetic acid. It may be natural, but so is arsenic.

But if you’re willing to put on the safety equipment for it, Natural Armor’s 30% vinegar is an excellent product that can kill even the most troublesome of weeds.

Belle Chemical 75% Pure Vinegar Concentrated Industrial Grade

There’s horticultural vinegar, which is about 20% to 30% vinegar. And then there’s industrial vinegar, which is a lot stronger, used for applications that need sheer acidic strength. We won’t be using this product for its industrial services today; instead, we’re treating it as a concentrate. The good news about a high-concentration product means that it can go a lot farther than lesser ones, and a 1-quart (32 ounces) bottle of 75% pure vinegar from Belle Chemical is just the thing for the hard jobs.

Before we get to anything about the product, we cannot emphasize enough: this is industrial strength. You are handling industrial chemicals. This is not food-grade or edible in any way. The difference between your standard table vinegar and this product is like the difference between that little rock in your garden versus an avalanche. Treat it with care, with respect, and with all proper safety equipment. It will kill weeds stone dead, and it will also burn you just as well.

This product makes no bones about what it is: it’s 75% vinegar, the rest is all water, no more additions. This isn’t something you can use as-is; you’ll have to dilute it. The maker’s recommendation is a standard weed-killing formula of vinegar, salt, and soap.

Take your 1-quart bottle of 75% vinegar, mix it 7:1 with water to produce 2 gallons, then add 1 cup of table salt and 1 tablespoon of dish soap. The resulting solution is a pretty solid 10% vinegar weed killer, and it’ll do for most weeds that trouble your garden. Particularly stubborn weeds can be dealt with by a 3:1 dilution; the same steps as above, but filling to just 1 gallon. The result is 20% acetic acid and will kill the strongest weeds.

Belle Chemical only sells its 75% vinegar in 1-quart bottles, but 32 ounces is all you need for pretty much any purpose. They come in at a fantastically low price, so if you’re willing to take the risk, you can get a very good quantity of weed killer without having to break your budget. But you have to consider: are you willing to handle industrial chemicals for the sake of killing the weeds in your garden?

If that’s a risk you’re willing to take, then Belle Chemical’s 75% industrial vinegar will serve you well and offer you a lot of options to deal with weeds. Just remember to use it with care.

Natural Elements 30% Vinegar

Lots of companies have been taking a long hard look at the products they supply and use, and the Midwest-based company Natural Elements aims to provide products that are both effective and safe, using non-toxic or all-natural ingredients. Their 30% industrial strength vinegar is a perfect example.

Vinegar is an obvious part of a product line like Natural Elements has, as strong acids have a lot of uses, especially in cleaning, and vinegar is one of the easiest natural acids to make. It’s straight 30% acetic acid with no chemicals or other additives. It’s usable both straight and diluted, though we only recommend straight use if you’re dealing with stubborn weeds. For almost all other weed-killing applications, you’re better off diluting.

With a 30% vinegar starting point, you’ve got options. A straight 1:1 dilution with water yields an excellent 15% vinegar product, and we recommend doing this as standard unless you have difficult weeds to kill. If you want to stretch out the quantity, 1.5 parts water to 1 of Natural Elements will yield a 10% product, sufficient to kill most typical weeds. For the best effectiveness, we recommend adding soap to this, so that the vinegar grips the plant better.

And there are all the other non-gardening uses you can put it to, mostly related to cleaning. Rust, hard water deposits, grout stains, they’ll all fall to a vigorous application of vinegar. Your coffee machine or garbage disposal will look good as new after you’ve been through either of them with this much vinegar.

The major problem with 30% vinegar is that it’s a bigger hassle than 20% vinegar. We recommend protective equipment for 20%, but you absolutely cannot skip it with 30%. Cover any possible hint of skin and protect your eyes. Get a face shield and a mask and waterproof gloves are a must. Remember, it’s acetic acid. Give it an opportunity and it will burn your skin or eyes as readily as it burns down plants.

With all that said, this product is extremely effective! 30% acetic acid doesn’t slow down for anything, not even the toughest of plants. You won’t have any weed problems after you’ve finished spraying them with Natural Elements’ 30% vinegar.

A Guide To Vinegar Weed Killers

What should you look for in a vinegar weed killer? What makes a weed killer good at its job? We’ll cover all the aspects that go into vinegar weed killers in this section, so that you know how to choose a good one at the store.

A Step-By-Step Guide To Spraying Your Vinegar Weed Killer

So you’ve got your vinegar weed killer in hand, but now you’re asking: How do I use it? It’s a good question, you can’t just go and spray. This step-by-step guide will explain how best to use a vinegar weed killer.

Step 1: Check The Weather

You can’t just spray any time you feel like it! Ideally, you want a clear, still day with no rain expected for the next day. Temperature should be between 60 to 80 F. And these aren’t just arbitrary requirements; they all matter.

You want a still day because wind might blow your weed killer onto a plant you don’t want to kill. Rain will wash off your weed killer, and you want to give it time to work. Too hot a temperature and your weed killer evaporates before it can take action; too cold and cell walls harden, making more work for your weed killer.

Check your weather forecast and general conditions before you get started, to save both yourself and your weed killer some effort.

Step 2: Put On Protective Equipment

“It’s just vinegar,” you say. “What harm can it do?” This isn’t your average table vinegar. Vinegar weed killers are a lot stronger than that. They burn down plants, and if that vinegar gets onto you, it’ll burn you as well. Don’t give it that chance. Put on protective equipment: long pants, long sleeves, and waterproof gloves at the minimum.

Get a face shield or mask as well, to protect against fumes. The stronger your vinegar is, the more protective equipment you should have on. Better safe than sorry.

Step 3: Prepare Your Weed Killer

If you’ve got a ready-to-use product, then this just involves bringing out your container of weed killer and ensuring your sprayer is ready to go. If you’ve got horticultural vinegar, you may wish to dilute it to make it last longer. If you’ve got industrial vinegar, you definitely need to dilute it to make it safe to use.

The specific dilution ratio will depend on the precise product and the type of weed you’re trying to kill, but you should aim to produce a product that’s 10% to 20% acetic acid. Check the product labels to be completely sure.

Make sure you’ve got your protective equipment on, both protecting your skin and your face. Concentrated vinegar in its horticultural or industrial strength is not good for your skin or your breathing.

Step 4: Prepare Your Sprayer

In whatever form it may take, whether it’s your classic spray bottle or a bigger pump sprayer. Since this is your delivery mechanism, make sure that it’s in working condition and it will spray without trouble; you don’t want to have to delay your weed killing because your sprayer broke down!

Once you’ve ensured it’s working, fill it with your weed killer. Make sure you’ve got enough for your needs because having to go back and refill your sprayer because you ran short is a hassle.

Step 5: Pick Your Targets

Know what you’re getting rid of. Remember, vinegar weed killers aren’t selective. As long as they touch plant cell walls, they’ll start burning down tissue. This is why you have to be careful and selective in your targeting; you can’t just spray your whole garden down and call it done (unless you really do just want to get rid of everything). Select the plants that you want to burn down before you get to spraying.

You also want to go for weeds that are not yet established, so check your garden frequently to see when weeds pop up. It’s a lot less effort to kill a small, still-growing weed than one that’s grown large and established.

Step 6: Spray Your Garden!

Once you’ve made your selections, spray them down! Make sure that the target plants are completely coated in weed killer; this will ensure a complete burn. Spray the leaves and the stems. Only when the plant has been completely coated should you move on.

Not all plants are made equal, and vinegar has one particular downside. It’s a contact, burn-down herbicide, killing plants by desiccating their green, leafy structures. However, this also means it doesn’t spread in the plant’s internal structure like systemic herbicides. Plants with strong, established root structures will be much more difficult to kill with vinegar, so you’ll have to find an alternative means of dealing permanently with them. We recommend a shovel.

This also means that vinegar has trouble dealing with plants that are particularly hairy or waxy, as it means the weed killer can’t get to the green structures as quickly, having to get past the hair or wax first. Check which plants these are, as you may need to give them a second spraying, or resort to the shovel.

Step 7: Give It Time

All vinegar weed killers take time to burn their target plants down. The good news is that they’ll burn down quicker than Roundup kills plants (Roundup takes about ten days to kill its target). You’ll see results within hours. If you spray in the morning, you’ll generally get noticeable browning by late afternoon. Most plants will be completely burned down overnight.

Depending on how established a weed is and how strong your weed killer is, you may need to give the real tough types a second spray. Check on your garden the next day to see how the weed killer has performed, and spray any survivors again to finish them off.

How To Make Vinegar Weed Killer At Home

You can also make your own vinegar weed killer at home! You’ll only need a few ingredients, all of which are easily available in your kitchen or right there at the grocery store. If you’ve got weeds you need to kill but can’t find any good weed killer at the store, making your own is perfectly fine.

You will need the following ingredients:

This recipe assumes table vinegar of 5% acetic acid. More acidity is always better for weed killing, as it’s the acid that does the hard work. If you can get a vinegar of over 5% acidity, use that instead.

Mixing is simple. Put your vinegar into a container, then add 1 cup of salt. Stir gently but consistently until all the salt has dissolved into the vinegar. Then add 1 fluid ounce of soap. You won’t need to add any water to this; after you stir it a bit, it’s ready to use.

A word of warning. As we’ve mentioned, the percentage of acetic acid is what gives vinegar power, and table vinegar just doesn’t have enough of it. Even with salt and soap included in your formula, this will suffice only for small, non-established weeds. If you want to kill something more substantial, you’ll need stronger vinegar. 10% is the lowest you should go, and higher is better.

But if you want a quick and easy weed killer, a homemade vinegar weed killer will do fine.

Conclusion

If you want a natural weed killer, vinegar is the best way to go. It’ll readily burn down any weed it encounters without any trouble; and it will do it at a much faster speed than chemical weed killers.

There are tons of great products on the market, all you need to do is choose which one is best for you. If you want something affordable go for the 75% industrial vinegar from Belle Chemical. If you need something that’s quick and easy to use then Dr. Kirchner Natural Weed Killer has your back. And finally, if you want the best of the best go for our top choice, Green Gobbler’s 20% vinegar.

There’s no need to rely on dangerous chemicals that are hazardous to pets and your children. Vinegar will do a safer job in a much shorter period of time.