How to Apply Baby Shampoo to Your Lawn | The Benefits on Baby Shampoo in Your Lawn
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- เผยแพร่เมื่อ 16 ก.ย. 2024
- In this video I show you how to and the benefits of applying baby shampoo to your lawn. Soap acts as a surfactant and can be beneficial in breaking up your lawns hydrophobic water tension, thus turning it into a hydrophilic lawn. If you decide to use some other soap besides baby shampoo make sure you are using a a soap that does not have any anti-bacterial or anti-microbial elements in it. Bacteria and microbes are beneficial to the lawn so you don't want to kill those off.
There are lawn surfactant products out there that can be quite pricey and they will do a better job. But if you have some mild dry spots in your lawn baby shampoo applications can help and cost much less.
There are some before and after pics on a previous application I did to the lawn within this video so you can see the results.
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Thanks!
If you use a Hudson-type pump sprayer, use 4 oz of baby shampoo per 1 gallon of water. After spraying the lawn, let it sit for about 30 minutes, then water.
Oh , one more thing ! We have had plenty of rain in the last 3 weeks & now we have flood issues, so the grass is very much saturated ! More rain tonight ! Thanks again ! NC
Nice video. However, some brand-name baby shampoo is expensive. The key ingredient ... the wetting agent ... is just sodium laureth sulfate, so cheap dollar store shampoo or bubble bath will work great. (Just don't use anything that says "anti-bacterial). I pay $1.25 for a large bottle of bubble bath and I use the 2oz setting on my Ortho Dial-N-Spray hose-end sprayer. I do this about every two weeks, but I actually mix up some of the Jerry Baker lawn recipes, for added benefits.
Nice! Great info! Appreciate you watching. Do you do full Lawn treatment or spot treat every two weeks?
@@HomegrownHowTo I do the whole lot, before watering the lawn. But, I'm also dollar store regular coke (to feed the thatch-eating microbes), dollar store regular mouthwash (to dissuade lawn grubs) and fresh pee (to supply urea and ammonia [nitrogen]). I don't use any commercial fertilizer products, as I'm cheap ... my lawn regimen costs just a couple of dollars. I also mow my St Ausgustine on the highest setting (4"), to reduce watering needs. Oh ... I also have one of the greenest, lushest lawns in my neighborhood.
@@markg6860 interesting… I’ve never heard of the mouthwash for grubs! That’s awesome. I think my wife would have a heart attack if I was using piss for the lawn 😂. But I think it’s great!
Nice job with the baby poo. I did this earlier this spring. Worked great.
Noiiiice!
@@HomegrownHowTo mmmhmm
Baby poo is great but after scraping the diapers dispose of sensibly 😂
An I apply the baby shampoo before winter fall time
Great suggestion. I'm wondering what would have caused the type of spots you're treating. I understand your explanation about the soil not absorbing enough water. Would this solution work on bare spots caused weeds, ant hills, or sun burn? Really enjoyed this video and your description. Sue
It can be a number of things. Compact soil from high traffic areas, areas with more sun exposure, and areas close to concrete/asphalt will also dry up the soil much faster. This method works great to repair dry spots. You’ll likely need to reapply every 4 weeks or so during dry months.
Thanks for the comment!
How about large areas that dried out from drought? Will this help after a few doses?
@@danalmeida5380 if the grass has gone completely dormant then I would probably leave it alone and wait until temps start to cool off a bit. Once they do you can do this application to help kick start it but it’s going to take cool temps to get it to come back, assuming you have a cool season lawn type.
I have a Chapin garden sprayer and I can set the dial to either teaspoons or tablespoons. What number should I put the dialer at? I'm going to be trying that over the 4th of July weekend
Hey! Sorry not much help as I don’t have the Chapin. But probably put it at the highest output. Suds up the dry spots really good 👍 hope that helps. Best thing with this is you can’t over apply. So no harm to the lawn either way.
I'm looking to do this at some point this week. I have a couple of questions.
1.) We have 2 dogs that us the back yard. I have dead grass spots. I'm hoping this kind of flush will help with the drainage. Is that correct?
2.) I have a couple of layers that look like it's crusted over and maybe has or had algae. What would you recommend for those area?
Thank you to any and all in advance.
Yeah this can help flush it out and improve water penetration into the soil. I’m not sure this will prevent dog pee spots but this may help the new grass grow through. Although I haven’t tried this on dog spots, I think it may help. Saturate the soil with the soapy solution. For the algae, just remove it and saturate with the soapy solution as well. The algae itself should not be harmful to the lawn.
Why are there hydrophobic areas of lawn? Oil spill? Terpenes expressed by the grass? Lots of grass cuticle getting mashed into the soil from mowing or from autumn leaves? Soot deposits?
Of all the wetting agents you might have around the house, baby shampoo is unlikely to be the cheapest, but since you don't have to use much, the cost difference is probably negligible. Mr. Bubble used to advertise that using it in kiddie pools wouldn't hurt the lawn if spilled out, but never mentioned an advantage such as this.
Usually due to environmental factors like high temps and prolonged drought. Plant residue, microbial byproducts and certain fungi can also cause this. Good ole days of Mr Bubbles 😂. Simpler times.
Sooo one application will not do it then ? Can a fertilizer treatment during a drought spell cause this problem ? I had a beautiful green lawn for years & now I am finding all these dry brown burnt spots this year ! So I have a few questions & I hope you can help . Fertilizer or drought or both !!! Ty from NC .
Hi! Hard to say what’s going on without seeing it. But it could be a number of things. Could be drought and heat. Could be a pest like grubs. To test for grubs grab a handful of your turf and pull up, if it comes up like pulling up carpet then you likely have grubs- you can buy insecticides for your lawn to treat this but keep the sod where it was and it should re establish itself.
It could also be a fungus like brown patch, dollar spot, etc. if your lawn passes the pull test then maybe research common fungi in your area. Fungus is common with high heat and high humidity, especially after a lot of rainfall as you mentioned in your previous comment. If it seems to be fungi related you can apply a fungicide- I’d treat your whole lawn in this instance. If you think it’s just heat stress keep watering the area regularly and the baby shampoo trick is amazing.
Is that sod you have? Bc I have sod that’s a year old and this method looks and sounds appealing
It was sod that I laid about 5 years ago. Now is very established.
@@HomegrownHowTo I appreciate the prompt response bc I've been studying this method for a week now and tomorrow is the day I apply baby shampoo to the entire lawn.
@@nameakpan9799 awesome it really helps the soil take in more water and helps with dry spots. I do this often.
Excellent video but I’m puzzled regarding the ratio of baby shampoo to water. 3oz per 1000 sq ft is confusing. How about ounces of shampoo per gallon of water? Thanks!
Hey Steve, great question. You want to know the size of your lawn first in sqft. Then add in that much shampoo (3oz per 1K) diluted with water. Knowing the size of your lawn is best before you apply anything to your lawn. With the shampoo application you can go well over the 3oz/1k without damaging the lawn. Hope that helps!
Usually you can assume that is 1 gallon of water for every 1,000 sqft. So 3oz per gallon of water
Usually you can assume that is 1 gallon of water for every 1,000 sqft. So 3oz per gallon of water
@@krishnapatel3877 thanks for that. I mixed 3oz/gallon but had to adjust the spray nozzle to get the coverage I needed.
@@hookem7030 fill the remaining with water 👍
How often should this be done?
You can do it as often as you wish- it won’t harm the lawn. I usually hit my dryer spots every 2-4 weeks in mid summer. 👍
Looks like some of those spots suffering may be from the heat of the concrete sidewalk.
You are not wrong. When it gets super hot that concrete radiates for sure! This does seem to help. Thanks for watching.
@@HomegrownHowTo I'm going to give this a try on my hydrophobic spots this week.
@@garagehobbies let me know how it goes! Good luck 👍
OK, maybe a dumb question, but with the continual water feed into the jug how do you know how long you need to water your lawn to use up the soap that you put into the jug thank you… in my situation. I have about 1 to 2000 ft.² in the front yard. I need to hit certain spots.
Good question. The bottles will usually tell you how long you should water a 1k sqft area. But with the soap if your spot treated some hydrophobic areas you want the area to get decently sudsy. I’ll hit one spot for about 30+seconds when spot treating.
Hi there, I just put down Scott’s Winterizer Weed & Feed. Can I still use the baby shampoo solution? Or wait a few weeks? TIA
Yeah you can go ahead and do the baby shampoo. It won’t effect the fertilizer application.
You should never use weed and feed! You should use seperate items for specific use. Instead of Scott's, try Lesco 15-5-10 fertilizer.
Can I use Palmolive green dish soap
Dish soap generally has antibacterial properties within it. I tend to stay away from dish soaps. It won’t harm the grass, but will kill the good bacteria that’s within the soil, that could in the long run have an affect on the lawn. That said I know Dawn has some antibacterial soaps, and some non-antibacterial soaps. So read your bottle, if it says anything about killing bacteria, I wouldn’t use it.
we've had an unusual spell of silly weather in the UK of 40 degrees celsius...the grass is SO dead!!, the soil is like concrete and I have no outdoor access to water as I am in an upstairs flat...how much baby shampoo to watering can?, I have many sizes, but the smallest is 6 litre...this is going to take a lot of stair climbing and descending with cans, but we have to do something
You first want to know the size of your lawn in sqft. Use at least 3oz (I always use a bit more) per 1000sqft. Dilute with water then apply to the lawn. The Size of the container doesn’t matter much. I hope that helps! You can also look into a pump sprayer- might save you from having to climb multiple sets of stairs. Unless you want your workout for the day as well 😂. Good luck!
@@HomegrownHowTo why didn't I think of that??, it would still mean taking the cans so I could refill the sprayer, but the distribution on the lawn would be much more even. thanks guys!! :)
@@plushypuppy2024 absolutely! Good luck! Hope it helps!
3 ounces to how much water
Hey Mark, great question. You want to know the size of your lawn first in sqft. Then add in that much shampoo (3oz per 1K sqft) diluted with water. Knowing the size of your lawn is best before you apply anything to it. With the shampoo application you can go well over the 3oz/1k without damaging the lawn. Hope that helps!
Any advised on spots where a weed grew and after killing it, it left a bald spot?
Do you know what grass type you have?
@@HomegrownHowTo No sorry. I'm in Puerto Rico where weeds grow even on broomsticks. Haha. But my question is if I have a small spor where grass died or weed grew and now there's a small spot without grass, what can I do? Do those grass seeds really work? The shampoo will work for spots where grass is brown, but what to do for small spots where grass is no longer there?
Thanks
@@josearalat the reason I ask is because some grass types can spread and repair dead spots over time. But the shampoo treatment alone will not help dead spots. Seeding is a great option once your temps start to cool off in the fall or spring, ideally. For future make sure not to use weed spray during hot temps and make sure the spray you use is okay to use on grass. Hope that helps!
@@HomegrownHowTo I did noticed that the week killer turned spots around them brown. Rookie mistake.
@@josearalat hey, it happens to us all. Live and learn, right? 😂 good thing it’s just grass.
Is a 1 gallon sprayer just good as a dialer spray?
Yeah that would work great. May just take a little longer. Just use the hose after to get it down to the soil
@@HomegrownHowTo I wonder if the dialer sprays more soap due to its connected to the water hose
@@dannymartinez8522 yeah it probably does. There are dial in hose end sprayers that range about $10-20 but if all I had was the pump sprayer I’d probably just use that.
A Hudson-type sprayer works great! Use 4 oz shampoo per gallon of water. Let it sit about 30 minutes after spraying, then water as usual.
Someone told me I can also use Dawn ultra dishwashing quid
You absolutely can! Just make sure it’s not anti-microbial or antibacterial, quite a few dish soaps are. There are beneficial microbes and bacteria in the soils that can be killed off if so.
I live in Canada and wanted to know if I can start to overseed and fertilize my lawn now as my lawn is dormant in a few spots from the summer? My temperatures right now is around 25C during the day and 17C during the night? Also if the temperatures reach slightly higher than 25 in the day would they be a problem or would I just have to water a lot more during those more warmer days? I was planning on dethaching those dormant areas putting down some seeds and then Peet moss on top. With some Scott’s winter care lawn fertilizer either before or after the seeds. Please advise Thankyou In advance…
Hey Rudy! With this temps you should be good to overseed. You just want to make sure the seed stays wet. So applying water to it multiple times per day should result in success. All of your other steps are great, but I would not dethatch your dormant areas- this will kill the dormant lawn. Best of luck on your reno!
Oh and as far as fertilizer, I would just use a starter fert. Once the grass is full and thick then add on your winter fert.
So the dormant areas that look dead should I just use seeds and Peet moss
I’m assuming that winter fertilizer be too strong
@@rudy5454 i would, yes.
Has anyone thought of using Simple Green?
I haven’t looked into that. But my assumption with Simple Green is that it has a lot of antibacterial and anti-microbial agents in it, which would be harmful to the lawn in the long run.
@@HomegrownHowTo if that is the case, it would not be a good alternative. Thanks!
How long will the shampoo last before doing it again?
Usually about a month 👍
Im just wondering how often should I applied the shampoo
I would do it about every 4 weeks. Good luck!
@@HomegrownHowTo thank you bro!
Does any one have the shampoo to water ratio when using a pump sprayer to shampoo you lawn or garden?
The recommendation is 3oz per thousand sqft. But, you can definitely use more without causing any harm to plants/turf- as long as you are not using anti bacterial soap.
I dump 3-4 oz in a 2 gallon pump sprayer. One tank enough for my small city lot. Don't dilly dally spraying. All ya want is a coating. then water like you usually would. I do this 2-3 times a season. Seems to help.
Play the baby shampoo
Its not harmful to the *GRASS?* If this work then it will thicken my grass while simultaneously killing the grubs in the grass!!
Not at all. If you’ve got grubs this can definitely suffocate them. Not sure how effective it’ll be in eliminating grubs but it can definitely help determine if you’ve got grubs by causing them to come to the surface.
geez have you ever hear of cliff notes? repeating yourself is not what others like to hear
Thanks for the feedback Pete. Have a great day, bud.