Liquids on a plane

"I wonder if the quart bag has to be zip closed"

Yep, it has to close or they'll reject it. If they bother to check it in the first place. TSA is, inconsistent at best.

Two notes: first, the container size is technically 3.4 oz, but 3.4-1-1 wasn't as catchy, so they made it 3-1-1.

Secondly, one bag for each traveler. So you can each carry your own shampoo, toothpaste, etc.

I didn't have any trouble, and the secret is the same as you use to do only carry-on: you don't need as much as you think you need. :-)

Shampoo & conditioner: do you really need both? if so, get a shampoo/conditioner combo? Or buy the solid bar kind from a place like Lush.

Toothpaste: Baking soda? OK, I'm kidding. But unless you'll be traveling for three months or have an extra set of teeth, one small travel size of toothpaste ought to be plenty, even for two people.

Body wash: Yeah, I prefer it, but for traveling, soap was fine. Italy, especially, has some nice soaps too, so consider stopping into a store and buying a bar for use.

For that matter, you can buy just about anything you'd need, and shopping in the local pharmacy/stores can be a lot of fun. You can also take advantage of the exceptions, like the one for contact lens solution.

Buy stuff there.. they have everything you need. Just bring the absolute minimum to start you off. Its actually fun going into stores and looking at the selections of products,, and you will see alot of same brands you already know anyways.

First Aid supplies,, well other then a tiny tube of antiseptic ointment ( like Polysporin) I do not see you needing any other first aide liquids??

Pre shave and aftershave,, and skin cream , and sunscreen,, whoa,, I think you can cut back a bit here..

Sunscreen,, when are you going,, ?? July, August?

Purell- I brought a small container that lasted me 2 weeks with left over,, but, also pick up some antiseptic WIPES,, they are not considered liquids and are great for washing off hands before snacks etc.

As others have mentioned, Europe is not a third world country. You can buy just about anything you need there.

First, go to your nearest Target or Wal-Mart and you'll find travel size products of some of your favorite brands. If not, check out Mimimus.biz. They have just about everything in travel size.

Second, switch to shaving oil. I have and it's great. Tiniy bottle lasts two months and you don't need pre-shave or post shave since it keeps your skin lubricated.

Lastly, do you really need all of that stuff while you're on vacation? Can't you give up some of it for a couple of weeks? If you insist on bringing your own shampoo, look into shampoo bars (don't have to be in the bag). You can't use soap for your trip, you have to use body wash? Can you do with a combined shampoo/conditioner just for the trip rather than taking two separate items. And regarding the K-Y, you have to declare it to TSA separately and it will have to go through separately from your bag.

One our our best memories was shopping for lotion. My daughter ran out of lotion and after too much sun, different soap, etc., needed more lotion. We stopped in a local marker/grocery and were trying to figure out which bottle/tube was lotion. I very kind young lady who was shopping and did not speak English offerred to help the two non Italian speaking ladies. And through a series of gestures we comunicated that we wanted skin lotion and she communicated to us that what we had chosen was acutally hair removal lotion. She chose the correct product for us and all was well. This one of our fondest memories of experiencing the hospitality and generosity of Italians. So, take your special, can't live without, products and then buy some there. Toothpaste is an easy purchase, usually has a picture of teeth! Enjoy Italy!

Shopping for toiletries abroad. . . .

I had difficulty in Paris and my French is passable. The packaging was not obvious on many things. I wouldn't even try in Italian! And prices were much higher than in the U.S. Maybe that's partly because I was in the high-priced part of town, but that's where you will be too, as a tourist.

Maybe if you make a shopping list and get it translated, you will be able to walk into a pharmacy and get it all at once, easily, but it will cost you, and you will have to abandon what you don't use when you leave.

Part of the trade-off for not checking a bag.

Yes, it has to close :-)

One tip a got from posts here that I used this summer was to put creams/lotions in a spare contact lens case. I tried this with my face cream, and found just one side contained enough for our 18 day trip. I did purchase some travel size liquids from Target; they have a pretty good selection. And the bag holds more than you might think. I took a full size tube of sunscreen (3 oz; son has very sensitive skin and needs to use a proven brand) and liquid laundry detergent (travel size) and still had room for everything else.

In Venice, I came down with a very bad cold. I went to a pharmacy but they spoke no English. Luckily, the phrasebook I had at the time had the phrase "I have a cold" in Italian. The women behind the counter, nodded, opened a drawwer and put two products down on the counter. Both products were in Italian but the one of the right said "Sudafed." I took it and it cost, in Lire, about the same as I would have paid in the U.S.

Pharmacies are abundant all over Europe. Just ask at your hotel for the closest one or better yet, tell them what you need and they'll send you to the nearest store that carries it. And travel sizes are beginning to get popular in Europe because the EU liquid rule in hand baggage is basically the same as in the U.S.

Sea to Summit and Travelon both make little plastic containers of "leaves" the dissolve in water. They have them for laundry, hand soap, body soap, shampoo, conditioner and shaving. All of the Sea to Summit ones have a light green tea scent while the Travelon ones are heavy perfumed. They come in packs of 50 leaves and the containers are about the size of matchbooks. They don't have to go in the 3-1-1 bag.

On our last trip, I paid attention and learned that for my husband & I, a small travel-size toothpaste lasts 12 days. So, depending on your trip length, you might only need one or two.

Also, Kathy, Purex now makes a laundry sheet that you just throw into a washing machine (or cut/tear into smaller pieces for hand laundry) so you can skip the liquid laundry detergent. The more we can keep out of those plastic bags, the better!

I also take the Purex laundry sheets. I cut them before we leave so that I can use some in the sink to do delicates. Olay and L'Oreal make facial sheets that are dry, when wet they lather into a nice facial cleanser. You can also use them in the shower in place of a body wash. I like the Olay ones a lot.
KY can also be bought in travel size at Target.
We have bought toothbrushes, (we left1 in a hotel)
and toothpast in a pharmacy. My husband got an earache in Italy last trip. We went into a pharmacy, and a young lady pharmacist sold him an antibiotic
gave him instructions for 10 days, and it went away. The antibiotic was cheaper than here! You can buy bandaids and all sorts of stuff there. We saw the sign "Pharmacia" everywhere.

We just returned from our trips, and after the first three flights (into London then to Paris, Venice and Athens..) it wasn't until the fourth flight that they took the purell from me. (wasn't allowed they said)

(it was a flight out of Athens…) It went through fine the first few times... (hmmm????)

also just an FYI to those who may need one...my epi pen was looked at quite a lot.. but having it in the original box with the prescription label on it helped.

I have some VERY small bottle that I got sample Mario Badescu products in which I use. If you know anyone who uses the Clairol touch-up haircolor, there's a small bottle in that but it's pretty hard so the lotion/shampoo has to be thinner. I got a small bottle at the Container store, which I use for my contact lens solution, but you can put anything in them. The contact lens case idea is great, I put my eye cream in one, but if you don't use much moisturizer you can do eyecream in one side, and moisturizer in the other. Or buy 2...or 3... Target has little 10 gram (0.35 ounce) tubes of Aquaphor (2 or 3 to a pack) that I use for lips, small sores (cover with a bandaid and I think it's as good as neosporin), can use on hands too,tho it's greasy. I would definitely buy bandaids in the US to bring, European ones are expensive and I don't think stick as well. If you don't have a Containers store near you to buy empty containers, you can always go to the travel section of Target or W-M,buy something in a small container and empty and refill with your stuff. It's a small cost to pay to bring your own stuff, which after living/traveling in Europe for 7 years I prefer to do. Stuff over here can get expensive. That being said, I still buy toiletries when I travel, but it's a luxury, an add-on kind of thing.

Note: The original posters on this thread are already gone on their trip.