9 impressive reasons to use soap in your garden

Using soap in the garden probably seems a bit absurd. After all, dirt and soap aren't exactly bosom buddies. But, with a little ingenuity, you can make this common household item work for you outside the four walls of your home.
Don't believe you can take that extra bar of soap and put it to good use in the backyard? Check out just a few ways you can use soap in your garden:
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1. Deter deer
Deer can completely ruin all of your hard work if they start chowing down on your vegetables. Look for a highly fragrant bar soap, cubing it into pieces and skewering it into the ground all around your garden. Avoid soaps containing coconut oil, as it can actually attract the deer.
2. Kill snails and slugs
If you want to get rid of pesky slugs and snails, try spraying them down with a mixture of a vinegar-based salad dressing, hot sauce, hand soap and water. Spray the mixture directly on the slugs to kill them, according to Briggs Garden.
3. Clean your houseplants
You've been so busy dusting and cleaning everything else, you may have neglected one thing in your home that needs a little TLC: your houseplant. If the leaves are dusty, wash them down with a diluted warm soap/water mixture. The Spruce recommends 1/4 teaspoon of soap per 1 quart of water.
4. Create a lubricant
Need to remove a tree or bush branch? Coat the blade of your handsaw with a little soap to lubricate the teeth, making it easier to saw through the wood.
5. Protect against poison ivy
Soap is one of your best protections against poison ivy. If you get the oil from the plant on your skin, use soap and friction to get it all off within a few hours to prevent a rash. Check out the tutorial here.
You can also dissolve a tablespoon of dish soap and one cup of salt in a gallon of hot water, and spray the poison ivy plants to kill them.
6. Kill weeds
Combine boiling water, some vinegar, salt and a little dish soap in a container. Mix well. Spray the mixture over your weeds for a mostly-organic solution to your garden problems.
7. Deter bugs
Add 1 teaspoon of natural dish soap to a 1-quart spray bottle filled with water. Spray in areas where the bugs like to gather and repeat when they show up again.
8. Give your repellant extra sticking power
Whether you've made your own bug repellent or you're buying it from the store, add a few drops of dish soap. This helps the spray stick to the plants, allowing the repellant to work better.
9. Clean up
The most obvious use for soap in the garden: Use it to scrub up after digging around in the dirt. Soap and hot water are all you need to properly clean your basic garden tools too.
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Next time you head out to the garden, put your soap to work too. Make sure to share these ideas with your friends and family on Facebook.