Traveling with Toiletries

November 27, 2005 12:53 PM

To Dudes On The Go: What's the best way to carry toiletries in luggage so that they don't smell skunky when you get home, or leak all over your other stuff?
posted by Saucy Intruder to Travel & Transportation (12 answers total)

Ensuring that the toiletries in question are completely dry when you pack them should eliminate any "skunky" issues, but in lieu of buying the usual travel kits, a well-sealed plastic bag (perhaps the kind with a plastic zipper) will do in a pinch. Wrap your toothbrushes or other hydrophilic items in a few squares of paper towel if necessary. For proximity-incompatible items (e.g., bar soap and toothbrushes), use separate bags.
posted by mykescipark at 1:00 PM on November 27, 2005

Wrap everything in plastic bags, put in separate compartments. I'm also careful to only take things I know are in strong containers- some things I own just don't travel well. So I leave them at home.
posted by ThePinkSuperhero at 1:00 PM on November 27, 2005 [1 favorite]

Zip-lock bags? Light and pack easily. I keep two or three in my toiletries kit.

Just be careful with colognes---many are alcohol-based and can damage plastics. They might need tightly-sealed glass jars.
posted by bonehead at 1:01 PM on November 27, 2005

Use the toiletries bag that is probably inside your luggage, and put things that would be particularly bad if they broke/exploded inside a zip-lock bag as well.

Put this all at in your suitcase on the side that will be towards the ground when you are wheeling it around, so mid-transport breakage is somewhat more likely to stay localized, rather than being guaranteed to drip all over everything you packed.

I do this and have had shaving cream explode, and cologne break without much incident.
posted by I Love Tacos at 1:23 PM on November 27, 2005

I always carry mine in my hand luggage - this seems to prevent accidents.
posted by Cobbler at 1:36 PM on November 27, 2005

Repackage fluid stuff in leakproof Nalgene bottles, which can be found at any luggage store; eBags has them if you'd like to buy online (a dozen in assorted sizes will set you back about ten bucks if memory serves.)

Then stuff said bottles in Ziploc bags, and into your shaving kit or cosmetics case.

P.S. Kiehl's makes an excellent brushless shaving cream that comes in a tube or a jar, not an aerosolized/pressurized can. I use garden-variety canned shaving cream at home, but the Kiehl's stuff when I travel.
posted by enrevanche at 2:06 PM on November 27, 2005

Dudettes on the go can have useful advice too!

I second the ziploc suggestions here. I'm also traveling a lot nowadays, and I've learned a few extra tips:

1) Get a sturdy travel bag. Eagle Creek has some basic options, or you can get a fancier one at your neighborhood Filene's Basement/Loehmann's/Marshall's. The best ones have some mesh compartments so you can see what's inside, some solid compartments to contain spills better, and a hook to go over a curtain rod.

2) If you're really traveling often enough, keep a set of all of your toiletries in that bag and don't unpack it in between. That'll cut down on packing time and insure that you don't forget anything. It isn't that big a pain to buy a second toothbrush.

3) Get small versions of all your toiletries. You can steal shampoo, conditioner, etc. from hotels or buy small, leakproof bottles and fill them up yourself. I never bother with soap because everywhere I go has some, but you might like a particular kind. Big drugstores will have particularly useful mini versions of shaving cream and deodorant. I like a full-sized toothbrush, so I use a normal one and stick one of those plastic covers over the bristles, but YMMV.

3b) If you really want to travel with cologne, get small free samples from the manufacturer. It's silly to lug around the whole bottle, but it's tough to bottle a smaller size yourself.

4) Steer clear of those pretty silver (aluminum?) bottles with black caps--they don't really seal. Get those plastic drugstore ones instead.

5) Test all bottles for leakage before sticking them in your bag. Now test them again.

6) Never put your camera or anything else precious next to your toiletries in your bag. Despite all the above precautions, something will spill one day anyway.

7) Whenever possible, bring your toiletries in a carryon. It will get tossed around less, so less spillage...but even more importantly, you'll have them handy even when your baggage gets lost.
posted by equipoise at 2:07 PM on November 27, 2005

At most drug or variety stores (i.e. Wal-Mart, Fred Meyer's, etc.) somewhere in the general area of the toiletries aisle there's an aisle with trial sizes and travel sizes of different stuff. I usually take travel sized shaving cream and shampoo, and for something else like body gel, where the bottle doesn't travel well, I fill an empty travel bottle. I've been stealing the hotel shampoos for aeons, though, so I usually only need to grab some of those...

I wrap anything that's got water or potential leakage problems inside a plastic bag. I never bring anything that's in glass containers; cologne I keep inside a trial sized vial that I got somewhere. I just refil the vial if I need to.

Another thing is to always try to carry on if you can, and you want your toiletries in whatever you're keeping at your feet if you possibly can. (Unless it's a briefcase that has vital papers in it.)
posted by SpecialK at 2:08 PM on November 27, 2005

I've always used ziplocs.

Be aware that anything you put in checked cargo is likely to freeze.
posted by ikkyu2 at 2:48 PM on November 27, 2005

Take as little as possible with you. If you are staying in a hotel, you probably don't need any toiletries...
posted by phrontist at 7:58 PM on November 27, 2005

If you're flying, take all your plastic bottles (shampoo, contact lens fluid etc), loosen the cap, squeeze all the air out, and then screw the cap firmly back on.

Although I'm not a physics major, I believe this will prevent leakage because if you leave air in the bottles, once you take off the air pressure decreases causing the air contained in the bottles to expand and so forcing out the contents.
posted by forallmankind at 10:00 PM on November 27, 2005

Ziplock bags for everything. Squeeze out excess air before zipping up bag. Make sure everything is dry.
Transfer all liquids into plastic bottles, if possible.
Glass is asking for trouble. If you suspect that bottles tops are not completely air / water tight put a piece of plastic over the opening and then screw the top on. Plastic can be from any wrapper or bag. That pretty much covers it. Any spillage that does occur will be localised and not screw up the rest of your luggage.
posted by adamvasco at 1:18 AM on November 28, 2005