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The Irish Sun
02-05-2025
- General
- The Irish Sun
I'm fed up with annoying weeds ruining my patio so tried 3 viral hacks to get rid of them – a FREE trick worked a treat
WITH the warm weather taking hold, it's more than a little tempting to dust off the barbecue and get the burgers cooking. But one thing that puts me off having a garden gathering is the state of my patio - with the weeds invading the cracks between every paving slab. Advertisement 7 I tried out three hacks on my patio - from left to right, white vinegar, salt and boiling water Credit: supplied 7 I'm definitely no gardener, but the hacks were easy enough for even me to give a go Credit: supplied And while there are countless products on the market claiming to get rid of the pesky plants, they're usually packed full of chemicals - and can be pricey too. So I decided to try three different hacks to see if any of them worked to kill the patio weeds once and for all. Vinegar victory? First off, white vinegar. While it has long been used for cleaning purposes, it seems to have become increasingly popular over the past year. Advertisement Read more Gardening stories From getting rid of limescale to removing marks from windows, there are few things the liquid apparently can't do. 7 White vinegar is commonly used for a variety of cleaning purposes - and apparently works as a weedkiller Credit: supplied 7 But I wasn't very impressed with the results - as it looked much the same as when I started Credit: supplied And apparently, white vinegar can also be used to get rid of weeds, thanks to the fact it contains acetic acid, which acts as a "contact herbicide". Advertisement "The acid within vinegar breaks down cell walls and removes moisture from weeds, causing them to die off," Rebecca Sears, chief marketing officer at Green Garden, "Vinegars that you keep in your kitchen, such as white vinegar, contain a level of acidity that can help remove weeds." Most read in Fabulous So, I splashed out on a huge jug of vinegar from Amazon - figuring that I can use it for a variety of other cleaning chores if it didn't work to kill weeds. To make the weed killing concoction, I used 75% of white vinegar with 25% water, and put a generous helping of table salt in there too. Advertisement Grow your groceries - how to grow tomatoes from tomatoes! I then put it into an empty spray bottle, and gave the weeds a generous soaking. Once that was done, I left the weeds for a week, to see whether or not white vinegar would answer my gardening prayers. The result? Well... not very successful, in all honesty. The weeds looked pretty much the same as when I started - with only a few of them starting to look brown around the edges. Advertisement Verdict: 1/5 Maybe this would work better if you were to use it on a daily basis, but as a one-off, it's not particularly effective. Keep pests out all summer Hornets and wasps - hate the smell of peppermint oil so spraying this liberally around your patio or balcony can help to keep them at bay. Moths - acidic household white vinegar is effective for deterring moths. Soak some kitchen roll in vinegar and leave it in your wardrobe as a deterrent. Flying ants - herbs and spices, such as cinnamon, mint, chilli pepper, black pepper, cayenne pepper, cloves, or garlic act as deterrents. Mosquitoes - plants, herbs and essential oil fragrances can help deter mossies inside and out. Try eucalyptus, lavender and lemongrass. Shake it off Next on my list to try out was salt. Another cupboard staple that people turn to for other cleaning purposes, such as removing sticky spots from irons or keeping your coloured clothes nice and bright. Advertisement 7 On the slab I'd used salt on, the weeds had started to brown Credit: supplied But this time, I was using it in the garden. According to an This means the plant will then dry out and die. Advertisement Salt also adds toxic mineral ions to the soil, replacing calcium, magnesium and potassium - the minerals the plant needs to survive - with sodium, which is toxic to the greenery. I took 200g of table salt and dissolved it in one litre of water, adding a splash of white vinegar for good measure. You can use warm water for this, as a higher temperature of water will help the salt dissolve faster. I then poured this solution over the top of the weeds, and waited for a week. Advertisement Once again, the weeds had started to brown - slightly faster than the ones on the vinegar tile - but not particularly noticeably. Verdict: 2/5 Works better than the white vinegar but still not very effective. Wat-er hack One of the most popular hacks to use on weeds is boiling water. Advertisement And the reason this is so popular is that it's completely free. 7 Boiling water is another, completely free, hack that a lot of people swear by Credit: supplied 7 And for my patio it was clearly the most effective - with the weeds I'd poured the water on brown and pretty much dead Credit: supplied It works by causing "immediate and irreversible damage to the plant's cells", and is most effective on young weeds that have just made an appearance. Advertisement This is because it works by killing the roots - and those weeds that have really taken hold have thick roots, that won't be affected by the water. However, gardening writer Simon Akeroyd explained on Instagram that it's still worth trying out the water hack. "If it does manage to come back again it will be much weaker, and a quick second or third dose with boiling water will finish it off," Simply boil the kettle, and pour the water straight over the weeds. Advertisement But be careful when doing so - especially if you're wearing sandals - as the water could splash up on your feet. Out of the three hacks I tried, I wasn't holding out much hope for the water. But much to my surprise, it ended up being the most effective. While I left the tiles the same amount of time before checking the results, the weeds I hit with water were noticeably browner than the other two. Advertisement Verdict: 4/5 The most effective of all three hacks, and the cheapest. What's not to love?
The Irish Sun
28-04-2025
- Business
- The Irish Sun
I've made £10k on Vinted in 2 years – here's exactly why your items aren't selling, and how you can turn things around
A WOMAN who has made a staggering £10,000 on Vinted in two years has shared the top reason you're items aren't selling on the app. Kel regularly shares tips and tricks on her TikTok page, and shared a new video in which she explained just how important it is to write a good description for your items. Advertisement 3 Kel has made a whopping £10,000 in just two years by selling on Vinted 3 She explained how important it is to list every possible way of describing an item - as people call items different things Credit: tiktok/@ "You've given me absolutely nothing when it comes to reaching the search terms," "The be all and end all is - people call things different things. "So something you describe as mustard, someone might describe as ochre. "What you call a smock dress, someone might call a tiered dress. Advertisement Read more Vinted stories "What you call leopard print, someone might call animal or cheetah print. "You've really got to open your mind up as to how other people would describe something, if that makes sense. "It's almost like slang in different areas of the country." In fact, Kel - who saves 100kg of textiles from landfill every fortnight through her reselling business - said the best thing to do is to "treat the buyer as if they're stupid". Advertisement Most read in Fabulous So, while Vinted only allows you to list two colours for an item, if it's got more than two colours - you need to list them in the description. "Take these tips from someone that has done this for a living for the last five years," she continued. 'It's rancid' woman gags after buying 'very good' pair of tracksuit bottoms from Vinted only to make shocking discovery "If you've got like a really funky Y2K top, what sort of vibe is it giving you? Literally write down what you see. "A little bit like catchphrase if you will!" Advertisement "Vinted 101 tips for improving your descriptions and helping you sell MORE," Kel captioned her video. "Do you hashtag the keywords or just use commas?" one person asked in the comments section. To which Kel replied: "I normally pop visual sentences then in a bottom paragraph spout a load of relevant words." Speaking of visuals, Kel, who also runs a Advertisement Do you need to pay tax on items sold on Vinted? QUICK facts on tax from the team at Vinted... The only time that an item might be taxable is if it sells for more than £6,000 and there is profit (sells for more than you paid for it). Even then, you can use your capital gains tax-free allowance of £3,000 to offset it. Generally, only business sellers trading for profit (buying goods with the purpose of selling for more than they paid for them) might need to pay tax. Business sellers who trade for profit can use a tax-free allowance of £1,000, which has been in place since 2017. More information here: "Tidy your room and get your blinds open. I'm telling you - daylight is your bestie," she began in "Make sure you capture any labels that INCLUDE the size/material composition. "It saves the buyer messaging and asking questions if the answers are in front of them. "This also helps cover your tracks if the buyer doesn't read your description properly." Advertisement She also said it's important to "show the condition of the items clearly and HONESTLY" - including any flaws. If you don't, "the buyer will only raise an issue and put you out of pocket for a return". "Be honest and thorough, express the description through the quality of the images you upload," she wrote in the caption. "Believe it or not, not everyone reads what you write and prefer a visual." Advertisement 3 She saves 10kg of textiles from landfill every fortnight through her reselling Credit: tiktok/@
