How To Pack Toiletries In Carry On Luggage

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With everything that’s going on with the UK airport liquids rule, one minute airports have transitioned to the new rule, then they revert back, most of the London airports aren’t close to bringing it in etc. Honestly, it’s not going to affect me. No, I’m not one of those obnoxious travellers who think the rules don’t apply to them. I have been travelling with the requirement for so long, that I’ve just got used to travelling that way, and it works.

How To Pack Toiletries and Liquids In A Carry On Bag

I have been travelling with hand luggage only for years. Most of the time that’s just using a 30L underseat backpack. When you travel this way, you learn what things you actually NEED and use and what things you don’t. Why would I suddenly start travelling with 200ml of suncream when in reality I know I’ll only need half of it?

Carry On Luggage Dimensions Are NOT Changing

Just because the liquids rule is in the process of changing, luggage dimensions and weights are NOT. My 30L backpack comes in the dimensions of an under-seat backpack for most airlines and is pretty much guaranteed to always fly in the cabin with me.

I admit, it is often pretty full when I go on a 2-week trip, I don’t really have the space to take more liquids, even if I wanted to. If I take more liquids, it would take up the space of clothes and other things I may need.

Especially with the Asian airlines, many have a carry-on weight of only 7kg. With my current packing, my backpack comes in at around 6-6.5kg fully loaded. This does give me a tiny bit of extra weight if I want to bring anything back.

Some of the times I’m relying on using up my liquids while travelling, to shed a bit of extra weight for the return trip. I don’t plan on filling up that spare 1kg with unnecessary liquids. Whatever I pack, also means I’ll have to carry it on my back. The lighter, the better.

The Liquid Rule Change

Essentially the new liquids rule change would allow passengers to:

• carry up to 2L of liquids
• they wouldn’t need to all be kept together in a plastic bag
• they don’t need to be removed at security

Some airports have said that they have to be less than 100ml, but they wouldn’t be restricted to the 20x20cm plastic bag.

Prioritise

For me, I love travelling to hot, tropical destinations. Therefore suncream, bug repellant and bite relief are a priority.

If I know it’s somewhere where I’m likely to be doing water sports or in and out of water constantly, I’ll be using more suncream as I need to reapply. If it’s a destination where I’ll be walking around more in cities or towns, where I’m covering up or not ‘washing it off’, I’ll use a lot less.

Also, check to see if your accommodation supplies toiletries! When I travel I am a bit more flexible to the products I use. If it makes my packing lighter, I’ll use whatever is provided.

A lot of hotels have transitioned away from single-use toiletries, but many will have refillable dispensers of soap, shampoo and shower gel. In theory, it then means I don’t have to then take my own, usually I’ll just take my own conditioner.

Obviously, my toiletries look a lot different if I’m packing for a weekend or short break trip, compared to what I take for a 2 week+ trip. For the sake of this post, I’ll base it on my longer trips, where I’m maxing out the requirements.

My Toiletries Bag

For the longer trips, I purchased a hanging wash bag that has a detachable 18cm x 18cm x 1cm liquids compartment. (The current requirement in the UK is 20cm x 20cm). I love it, it’s so convenient. I usually detach the bottom compartment and have it just held by the clipped strap on flight days, so I can slide it out easily, if required for security.

Once I get to where I’m going, I zip it back together again.

It’s handy to separate the solids from the liquids and being made of a more rigid plastic it packs nicely into my backpack as an even rectangular shape.

I found it from a TikTok and it can be purchased on Amazon. However, it did need to be shipped from the US, but the postage to the UK was free.

(For Ryanair flights with a smaller bag requirement, I use a different set-up, see below).

Liquids

For a 2 week trip to a hot/beach destination, these are the liquids I often pack:

• 125ml of suncream, split into 2x50ml and 1x25ml pouches
• Bug repellant
• Anthisan bite & sting cream
• Iodine (antiseptic that I bought in Thailand)
• 25ml of conditioner (I will only use it every other wash, rather than each time)
• Hand sanitiser
• Toothpaste
• Lip balm

Pouches vs Travel Size Toiletries

As cute as travel-sized toiletries look, they can sometimes cost the same as their full-sized counterparts. For suncream and things like conditioner, I buy regular-sized bottles and then transfer them into smaller containers. It’s cheaper and I can just use the products I’m used to.

I used to use the small travel-sized bottles, but I have found pouches to work so much better. They refill in a similar way, but as they get emptier, they get flatter, making more space.

Going back to the suncream example with the rule change. Rather than carrying around a big 200ml bottle on day trips etc, I then just carry one of my 50ml pouches in my day bag.

The only travel-sized toiletry I will buy is toothpaste, as it’s hard to put into a different container. I have seen that you can buy solid toothpaste tablets, which you then chew like gum and brush once it starts foaming. But I haven’t felt the need to make this change.

Solids

One of the main reasons I can pack to the smaller liquids rule is because I have found solid alternatives of products. This way they don’t need to fit into the separate liquids bag for security.

In addition to the liquids I often pack:

• Bug-repellant wipes (wipes aren’t considered a liquid, even though they are wet)
• Solid stick deodorant (this will sometimes get flagged by security on the screens but they let it pass as a solid)
• Solid shampoo bar
• Calamine or aloe vera bar of body soap
• Eyeliner pencil

Stick deodorant is the only thing I may be tempted to change with the liquids rule. I personally don’t like it and how cakey it then makes the armpit material on my t-shirts feel. Although since I changed to the Sure 72hr Invisible, that one goes on quite nicely and is still considered a solid.

Although my accommodations usually provide some sort of shower gel, I often use my aloe vera or calamine soap if I have been out in the sun or happen to have bug bites. They are meant to help with the itching.

Along with the toiletries, I also pack:

• A foldable hairbrush
• A folding toothbrush
• Razor (yes, disposables are allowed in carry-on!)
• Laundry leaves (dry sheets of soap that foam up so I can wash clothes in a sink)

Shorter Trips

For trips with only a couple of nights (1 to 3 or 4) and especially when travelling with a smaller 20L Ryanair approved bag, I take a lot less. Where sometimes the solid deodorant will get flagged at security, it’s easier just to then put everything in the 20x20cm bag as I have the space.

Here’s an example of what liquids/toiletries I’m taking to a spa weekend break in Romania:

• Toothpaste
• Shampoo
• Conditioner
• 25ml suncream
• Lip balm
• Wild natural deodorant sample size

I then have my folding toothbrush and hairbrush in a separate little zip pouch.

Alternative Ways of Travelling With Liquids

I have been asked several times on my Youtube videos and Tiktoks as to why I don’t use other ‘liquid hacks’ for hand luggage. Here’s why.

Why Not Use Airport Click and Collect?

A way of being able to take full-size liquids in hand luggage is to use a click-and-collect service. Boots offers this at some of the UK airports. You simply put in an order online and then you set the collection point to the correct terminal and AIRSIDE location to then collect on your selected day. (It’s often cheaper than buying it at the terminal price).

Again, if I were going to do this, I would probably want to take some sort of empty container to bring back any leftovers. It seems a waste of product and money to throw away if you then will have the same problem of getting it back through security on the return journey.

Maybe this would work better if you were travelling as a couple or family and knew you’d be able to finish up a full-sized product. As a solo traveller, it would take me ages to finish a full-sized item.

Buying in the Destination

Similar to buying airside, I have also been asked why don’t I just buy products at the destination. Similar reasons to the bringing home problem, I don’t really feel the need to buy in my destination.

Obviously, I would if I were to run out, but this has never really happened. A lot of the time you can find the same brands when you travel, but they may be a little more expensive.

I did once buy a tiny bottle of iodine to clean a cut that I got while travelling. This was something I don’t frequently use/need, so didn’t think to pack it before my trip. It’s such a tiny bottle that I now just throw it in as part of my first aid kit.

The only thing I will frequently buy while away is aloe vera lotion. I love sticking it in the fridge and can often get through a whole bottle when travelling to a hotel destination. I will cover myself in it before dinner and then again before bed and it feels glorious.

When in Thailand I did also pick up some of their mosquito repellant from 7/11 as people say it works better than the UK equivalent. It was also way cheaper. I took a tiny amount of leftover repellant I had from a previous trip to cover me for the first night, then went on the hunt for the local stuff the following day.

As mentioned, with my love of hot destinations, I always make sure that I pack enough suncream. That’s a big priority for me. Often suncream is so expensive when you travel and in some places, especially in Asia, the suncreams can sometimes have ‘whitening agents’ in them. I have no idea what that involves and I don’t really want to put it on my skin!

Final Words

For me, I think the liquids rule change would only be helpful for me if I was planning on travelling for MORE than 3 weeks. But then I would still have to make sure that any airport I would be connecting or travelling through would allow that volume too. Some airports abroad don’t seem to care, but some still do!

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