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Matador travel containers (in RS shop)

I have the Matador soap container and a set of three soft bottles. You should carefully research the products before buying them. Here are my observations: The flat bottles are a great idea and they'll work well for thick products like creams and lotions. Useless for watery liquids like mouthwash, rubbing alcohol &c. The problem is they have no structure so when the top is opened, watery liquids will instantly gush and splash. I found the little identification labels to be a joke so you might want to figure out a better way to identify the contents. Not recommended. (I have a stupid collection of travel bottles including GooTubes but after testing them all under real world conditions, I revert to my aging flip-top squeeze Nalgene bottles that I got at REI twenty or more years ago.)

https://store.ricksteves.com/shop/p/toiletry-bottles-3-pack

The Matador soap bag is an ingenious and practical application of breathable laminated plastic films. You will look at this product and think, "Fifteen bucks for a soap dish? Crazy!" but, I can assure you, the little bag performs its task well. You place your wet soap or shampoo bar in the bag, roll down the top, and clip it shut. Depending on the ambient conditions, in 8 to 20 hours the bar will be dry to the touch. However, if water has penetrated to the interior of the chunk of soap, as happens with my Lush shampoo bars, the object can still turn into goop in a few days.

https://store.ricksteves.com/shop/p/bar-soap-travel-container

Posted by
5471 posts

Thanks for the observations on these products! I like the idea of a flat bottle for (not watery) hair conditioner so that it takes up less and less space during the course of a trip.

Posted by
289 posts

I just got the Matador soap container and used it on a trip, and it worked really well! Soap did actually dry, and it took up a lot less space than the two-piece hard plastic soap case that I've been using for years. So far worth the money!

I also got the travel bottles, but haven't tried them yet. Good tip on watery liquids-I'd probably only use them for liquids like shampoo and lotion anyway:)

Posted by
16408 posts

I have been using the Matador Soap container for over a year and love it. I just ordered another one as a backup.

I also ordered the toiletry ones but have not tested them yet.