Just to Be 100% Clear: Liquids Carry-On Rules
 

I'm fully aware of the 1 quart 3 oz. for liquids and gels rule. However, I could like to know if that also applied, in your experience, to solid deodorants, lipsticks, etc.?

It would take a big load off if I knew they wouldn't take my solid/stick deodorant and solid lipsticks(as in the traditional lipstick-in-a-tube)away, even if they are not in my carry-on.

If it is not in your carryon then the rules don't even apply. The liquid carry-on rules are only for carryons.

Put your solid deodorant in the quart bag (you can find small travel sizes of most brands that will last at least two weeks). Lipstick (solid, not gooey lip gloss) doesn't need to go in the bag but you may as well put it in there anyway. Mascara does.

And for what's worth, I've taken about a dozen different flights in the last six weeks, domestic and international, and not been queried even once about my toiletries. I fly carry-on only (yes, even for two weeks in Europe) and have had no trouble fitting my toiletries into the required containers/bag.

I use the "soft solid" sort of deodorant and have never had any problems carrying on, even without putting in the baggie. I don't use lipstick, but solid lip balm (e.g., Chapstick) has also never caused problems. However, liquid lip *gloss* (in a tube with a wand) could be problematic, depending on the agent.

As jgg said, you can put whatever you want in your checked baggage, as long as it meets the checked baggage rules (check your airline web site).

I travel almost every week for work, and it truly depends on the TSA agent you get. Some are real sticklers and will toss anything they find not in the quart bag (I forgot to put my lip gloss in there, and my toothpaste was over 3 oz another time), while others don't even bat an eye or inspect the stuff in my bin.


It's such a crapshoot, so I just play it safe and put everything in the quart baggie. I even had an agent once that I was breaking the rules by having TOO much stuff in the quart bag - even though it shut perfectly well - which was, of course, ridiculous. There's no rule about how much you can put in there as long as it closes.

Yes, the "when in doubt, put it in the quart bag" rule is very wise. Just carry the basics, and everything else goes in your checked bag.

SOLID deodorant technically need not be in the quart bag. Solid GEL deodorant MUST be in the bag. Solid, screw-up or pan-type lipsticks, no. LIQUID lipstick, yes, goes in the bag.

Your lipstick sounds fine. Unless you are carrying something over the size limit they will probably just insist you put it in the quart bag, not toss it. This happened to me with some solid wax hair stying stuff (you SumoTech users know what I mean). It passed fine outside the bag everywhere until the last leg; then they just wanted me to put it in the bag.

If space in your bag is tight, try the Lush line of solid, cake shampoos and conditioners and moisturizers. They don't need to go in the quart bag (saving space for other necessities)and worked great for us, even on my husband's sensitve, dry skin.

P.S. Rachellia, relax and have a wonderful trip!

And if you use gel-type orthotics...put them in your checked bag!

"And if you use gel-type orthotics...put them in your checked bag!"
My husband has them in his shoes. Does this mean they may make him take them out confiscate them?

I returned from a trip yesterday and it was my first time with the new rules. I had a small jar of vaseline in with other things and I had to move it to the plastic bag. They were very nice about it.

Joan

Grimmy:
This is EXACTLY what happened to my mother. Physician-prescribed and very expensive...into the trash. Because they were a gel. She needs them to walk comfortably and was afraid of her luggage being lost, so everything she brought was carry-on. She never imagined they could be a problem, and I didn't realize they had a gel construction until it was too late.

Thanks for the info Cupid. You may have saved us a hassle. They can go in the bag until our arrival in Rome.

Cupid1, what you are describing is criminal abuse -- and robbery, of course. The TSA *are* the terrorists.

I flew to Athens last month and nobody fussed about my solid deodorant and lipstick not being in the quart baggie. But my 4 oz contact lens solution was confiscated in Athens airport on the way back even though it was only half full: apparently it's the quantity of the bottle that counts. That was news to me. In the US the TSA told me that 4 oz contact lens solution was ok--eye solutions are exception to 3 oz rule, evidently.

Bausch&Lomb has just come out with 2oz contact lens solution--saw it at Target the other day in the trial size bins.

In the future, claim your orthopedic inserts as medical devices and ask for a supervisor. (And for reasons the TSA will not discuss. Gel inserts in your shoes equal DANGER. Gel inserts in your bra are SAFE... Once again proving that our security service is run by idiots)

There are TSA agents who will make an EXAMPLE of you if you put the WRONG things in your quart size baggie. (I have watched one HOLD up each "wrong" item and LOUDLY say to the poor woman "WHY DID YOU PUT THIS IN HERE" This was "deoderant" So for the OP. Solid Deoderants, solid lipsticks (Traditional kind not the gels) don't have to go in the stupid baggie.

There are those of us who print off the TSA website on what you can and can't carry just in case we get the TSA agent who is clueless. That and the request for a supervisor when they start thier "let's make up the rules" game generally works.

This is nit-picky, but I want to be sure and haven't seen this discussed before. My extra (new) contacts are in the original sealed packaging, floating in a small amount of contact solution.(Hopefully most of you know what I am describing...) So do those spare contacts go in the quart bag?

I'd put them in anyway to be safe than sorry, but my quart bag is already getting pretty full... thanks!

Based on my very recent reading of the TSA regulations you shouldn't have to include them in your toiletries bag. I'd put them with my other medications.

I put my spare contacts in the baggie because that's the one thing that if they take away, I can't get new ones easily on my trip.

Thanks, Therese! I looked all over the TSA website and couldn't find this specific information. I'll keep hunting, unless you might have a direct link?? Thanks again!

Deja, you're so right. My spare contacts and my asthma inhalers are the two "liquid" things that could ruin my trip if I didn't have them... Guess I'll have to remove a few other items from my quart bag to make room!

Thanks again!

If you have a prescription for the contacts and the inhalers, you can put them in a separate plastic bag - can be larger than the 1 quart bag if necessary. I am leaving this morning, and I have my prescription items that are "liquid" or "gel" in a separate bag so I don't take up room in my other plastic bag.

Under "Travelers with Disabilities and Medical Conditions" the TSA site (http://www.tsa.gov/index.shtm) says the following (as of today, April 27, 2007):

"Additionally, we are continuing to permit prescription liquid medications and other liquids needed by persons with disabilities and medical conditions. This includes:

All prescription and over-the-counter medications (liquids, gels, and aerosols) including KY jelly, eye drops, and saline solution for medical purposes;"

The site specifically says that containers of this sort of material that exceed 3 oz are not to be placed in the quart bag, but so far as I can tell it does not specify whether volumes under 3 oz have to go in the same bag as toiletries or if they can be in a separate bag altogther (as the the "additionally" might imply).

It does say:

"Declared liquid medications and other liquids for disabilities and medical conditions must be kept separate from all other property submitted for x-ray screening."

Yeesh.

I'm going through ATL security later today and will post back with my experience. Assuming it even comes up---I've yet to have an agent even ask that I put my toiletries bag through the X-ray machine separately.