TSA-Approved Carry-On Toiletries: Full Checklist 2026

Every year TSA officers confiscate tens of thousands of toiletry items at US checkpoints — almost all of them from travelers who weren't sure what the rules actually said. This checklist removes the guesswork. Use it before every trip.

The Core Rule: 3-1-1

Every liquid, gel, cream, or paste in your carry-on must follow the 3-1-1 rule:

• 3.4 oz (100 ml) or less per individual container
• 1 quart-sized clear, resealable zip-top bag
• 1 bag per passenger

The bag goes in a separate bin at the checkpoint. Everything inside must fit comfortably with the bag sealed flat.

What Passes: Full Checklist

Liquids and Gels (Must Fit in Quart Bag)

Item	Limit	Notes
Toothpaste	100 ml	Travel tubes widely available
Shampoo	100 ml	Or go solid — no bag needed
Conditioner	100 ml	Decant from full-size bottles
Face wash	100 ml
Moisturizer / sunscreen	100 ml	Decant into a refillable bottle
Mascara	100 ml	Classified as gel; most are under 15 ml
Lip gloss / liquid lipstick	100 ml	Matte lipstick bullets are solids
Hair gel / pomade	100 ml
Contact lens solution	100 ml	Prescription users may carry more with documentation
Perfume / cologne	100 ml	Solid perfume is unrestricted

No Liquid Restriction (Can Go Anywhere in Bag)

Item	Notes
Deodorant stick	Any size — solid form is unrestricted
Lip balm	Any size — solid or waxy products are not liquids
Solid shampoo bar	No restriction
Toothpaste tablets	No restriction
Powder dry shampoo	No restriction; aerosol dry shampoo is a liquid
Powder foundation	No restriction; liquid foundation goes in quart bag
Nail clippers	Allowed with no restrictions
Tweezers	Allowed
Razor (cartridge or disposable)	Allowed
Electric razor	Allowed
Nail file / emery board	Allowed
Solid sunscreen stick	No restriction

What Fails: Items Commonly Confiscated

Over-Size Liquids

• Full-size mouthwash — 250 ml, 500 ml, and 1 litre bottles all fail. Buy a 100 ml travel bottle or skip it.
• Full-size perfume or cologne — department store bottles are typically 50–100 ml but some run to 200 ml or more. Check the bottle before packing.
• Aerosol deodorant over 100 ml — very common confiscation item. Switch to a stick or buy travel size.
• Full-size shampoo and conditioner — even if you only plan to use a little, the container size is what gets checked.
• Hair spray over 100 ml — most drugstore cans are 250 ml or larger.

Restricted Items in Any Amount

• Straight razor blades / safety razor blades — must go in checked luggage even if the handle is allowed
• Pepper spray — not permitted in carry-on regardless of size

Building the Perfect Quart Bag

A standard 1-quart zip-lock bag holds 8–10 small containers if you pack strategically. Here's how to fill it without wasting space:

Step 1 — Go solid where you can. Deodorant stick, lip balm, solid shampoo bar, toothpaste tablets, and powder dry shampoo take up zero quart-bag space. These alone recover significant room.

Step 2 — Decant instead of buying travel-size. Silicone squeeze bottles (GoToob, Nalgene, or similar) in 30 ml and 60 ml sizes let you bring your preferred products at a fraction of the space a retail bottle uses.

Step 3 — Eliminate redundancy. Face wash that doubles as a shampoo, or a tinted SPF moisturizer that replaces both sunscreen and foundation, reduces bottle count.

Step 4 — Put the bag in an outer pocket. You need to pull it out at security. Keeping it accessible means you're not excavating your carry-on at the checkpoint.

Step 5 — Leave it half full. This allows for purchases at your destination, the occasional impulse buy after security, and the small amount of spillage that inevitably happens inside sealed bags.

International Flights: Same Rules, Stricter Enforcement

Most major international airports apply the same 100 ml per container rule that TSA uses. The UK, EU, Australia, Canada, Japan, and the Gulf states all enforce equivalent standards. Enforcement tends to be stricter at airports like Heathrow and Singapore Changi — don't assume you'll get the benefit of the doubt if a container is ambiguously sized.

If you buy liquids after security at a duty-free shop, they will typically be sealed in a tamper-evident bag (STEB). Keep the receipt inside the bag. If you have a connecting flight, that sealed bag may be screened again — without the receipt, some airports will confiscate the item.

One-Litre Bag Strategy for Longer Trips

For trips over a week, the quart bag constraint gets tighter if you rely on hotel products. The workaround most experienced carry-on travelers use: buy a 100 ml container of any liquid product you need on arrival, use it throughout the trip, and leave it behind. The cost is usually under a few dollars and frees your quart bag entirely for products you can't replace.