Travel toiletries checklist: 32 carry-on items and the rules

The essential travel toiletries for a carry-on trip are 32 items, and the ones that decide whether you clear security are the liquids: every bottle has to be 100 ml (3.4 oz) or smaller and they all have to fit inside one quart-sized clear bag. Everything else on this list is about not carrying more than you need.

Do you also hate waiting for your luggage once you’ve arrived, then dragging it onto public transport and to your hotel? Me too. That’s why I often travel carry-on only, and this is the toiletries checklist that lets me do it.

It holds all of my essential travel toiletries plus a few extras, the things that aren’t strictly necessary but are nice to have with me. The liquids rules come first, then three packing tips that make the whole thing fit, then the checklist itself, grouped so you can copy the parts that apply to you.

How many liquids can you take in a carry-on?

You can take as many liquids in a carry-on as fit inside one quart-sized transparent bag, with no single container larger than 100 ml (3.4 oz). That is the rule almost everywhere, and it is worth stating precisely, because the common version of it is wrong.

The limit is the bag, not a running total. In the United States the TSA calls this the 3-1-1 rule: containers of 3.4 oz or less, one quart-size resealable bag, one bag per passenger. The European and UK version is the same idea in metric, a single transparent bag of about one litre. Ten 100 ml bottles do not fit in a quart bag, so treat the bag as your budget and pack to what it holds.

Two things have changed at the checkpoint, though not to the limit itself.

1. Screening got easier where scanners are new. At checkpoints with CT scanners, which now cover most lanes at large US hubs, you can often leave the liquids bag inside your carry-on instead of pulling it out.
2. Some European airports lifted the container size. After the European Commission approved certain C3 scanners in July 2025, airports including Dublin, Rome, Milan Linate, Heathrow, Gatwick, Edinburgh and Birmingham began allowing containers up to 2 litres. Others, such as Frankfurt and Munich, allow it only in the lanes that have the new machines.

Assume the 100 ml rule anyway unless a sign at your lane says otherwise, because a mixed rollout means the airport you fly out of and the one you fly home from may not agree.

General tips for traveling with toiletries in a carry-on

The three tips that keep my toiletries inside the liquids allowance are buying solids, decanting into travel containers, and using a clear bag, and each is explained below.

1. Buy solid toiletries

Buy solid toiletries first, because solids do not count towards the liquids allowance at all. The hardest part of packing toiletries for hand luggage, for me at least, is staying inside that one small bag. If I brought everything I wanted in liquid form, I would not manage it.

So I don’t. I take solid versions of whatever I can find them for: solid shampoo bars, solid conditioner, solid deodorant, toothpaste tabs. Solids have a second advantage as well, which is that they cannot open up and run all over everything else in your wash bag.

Don’t know which toiletries come in solid form, or where to get them? The checklist further down names the ones I use.

2. Buy mini toiletries or travel-size containers

Buy travel-size containers for whatever has no solid version, and fill them yourself rather than buying miniatures. Taking solids isn’t always an option, and when it isn’t, I decant into small bottles: some at the full 100 ml, some much smaller for things I know I won’t use 100 ml of.

Think about what you actually pack before buying a set. Bottles are easiest for shampoo or body lotion, while tiny pots are handier for facial cream. A five-bottle set of 3.4 oz travel bottles covers most trips, and the labels matter more than you expect once four of them look identical.

Skip the branded travel packs, the ones with three miniature versions of a range. They usually cost more than buying the normal-sized products and pouring them into your own bottles, and you end up with sizes you didn’t choose.

3. Use a clear toiletry bag or Ziploc bag to stow your toiletries for traveling

Use a clear bag because you have to present all your carry-on liquids in a transparent one at security. Most people use Ziploc bags, or the equivalent from whatever brand, but a proper toiletry bag works as long as it is transparent and closes.

I prefer a Ziploc because it takes up no extra space and I can stuff it into my larger toiletry bag once I’m through security. If you would rather have something that survives more than one trip, a reusable quart-size toiletry bag with bottles does the same job and holds its shape in the tray.

Make sure whatever you use actually zips shut with everything inside. I’ve seen people go through with two small bags, but I would rather not risk it and just make sure everything fits into one.

Travel Toiletries Checklist

The travel toiletries checklist below has 32 items across five groups: basic body care and medication, small luxuries, make-up, personal extras, and the bags themselves. This is what I usually pack for a carry-on-only trip, and what I bring varies a little, because I leave some things at home when I know the hotel provides soap and shampoo.

Pack it in the order below, because the liquids decide the size of everything else. Fill the clear bag first, then the wash bag, then whatever is left goes loose in the suitcase.

1. Basic body maintenance and medication

1. Shower gel: I only take shower gel when I’m staying in a rented apartment and don’t know whether any will be provided. Hotels usually offer at least soap, and when I do bring some it’s normally one of the small hotel bottles I took last time. I don’t bring bar soap, because I never finish it on one trip and then it goes sticky in the wash bag.

2. Toothbrush: At home I use an electric toothbrush, but traveling I take a plain manual one from the supermarket. I’m not loyal to a brand here.

3. Toothpaste tabs: Lush’s dry toothpaste is the one I use. Note the name changed: what Lush used to sell as Toothy Tabs is now sold as Toothpaste Tabs, in flavors such as Dirty, Sparkle and Refresher, so searching the old name will not find them. When I run out before I can restock, I put regular toothpaste in a mini container instead. Some dentists hand out travel-size samples, so stock up when you can.

4. Dental floss: I have very sensitive gums, so flossing is a must for me. Floss is also the single lightest thing on this list, which makes leaving it out pointless.

5. Solid shampoo: A shampoo bar from Lush, which lasts far longer than a bottle and counts as nothing against the liquids allowance.

6. Solid deodorant: I use a Lush solid deodorant bar, Aromaco. It works well, but it doesn’t come in a container, so you have to find a tin for it yourself. It lasts ages. Once I’ve finished it, I’ll probably switch to a travel-size deodorant stick.

7. Razor: At home I use a Venus razor, but on the road I usually take one of the small disposable ones. Not great for the environment, I know, and I have to admit these often come from hotels too. I never pack shaving cream and use soap if I need it.

8. Travel size comb and brush: One of each, both the folding kind.

9. Medication for diarrhea, nausea and headaches: A few of each, out of their boxes, in a small pouch.

10. Bandages: I pack pre-sized bandages for sensitive skin and Compeed blister pads for blisters. The blister ones have saved more days of walking than anything else in this bag.

11. Condoms: I don’t pack these myself, having been with the same partner for 10+ years, but if you’re single, better safe.

12. Q-tips: Both for ears and for fixing make-up mistakes.

13. Tweezers: Slim ones. They live in the wash bag permanently, so I never have to remember them.

2. A little bit of luxury

1. Solid conditioner: From Lush again, and the same logic as the shampoo bar.

2. Body lotion: Usually a travel-size bottle from a hotel, which is exactly the right size. I’m not loyal to a brand and go with whatever is cheapest.

3. Facial cream: I put a bit in a mini pot. Not loyal to a brand here either.

4. Travel-sized sunscreen: Whichever brand does a travel size that is paraben-free.

5. Nail clippers or a travel-size file: I prefer a metal file to the emery-board kind, because it survives the trip.

6. Cotton pads: The flat round ones. They take up almost no space.

3. Make-up

1. Powder instead of liquid foundation: I’ve used Clinique’s mattifying pressed powder in the Stay Beige shade for years. A pressed powder also cannot leak, which is the real argument for it on a carry-on trip.

2. Eye pencil: Not loyal to a particular brand.

3. Lipstick: I only travel with lipstick when I know I’ll be at a conference or another event where I need to look a bit smarter. Rimmel’s Provocalips is the one I reach for. It is liquid, so it eats into the bag allowance, but it genuinely stays on for hours through eating and drinking.

4. Concealer stick: A stick rather than a liquid concealer. It’s a compromise, because liquid concealers usually work better, and I go for one of the cheaper brands.

5. Mascara: Rimmel’s Scandaleyes range, usually the Extreme version. It’s good, it stays on and it isn’t expensive.

6. Facial wash and make-up remover: I used to buy Nivea and switched to a cheaper store brand. Both go into small travel bottles.

4. Custom stuff and other things

1. Contact lens case, travel-size solution and eye drops: The cases come free with the large bottles I buy, and the lens fluid is a store brand.

2. Glasses case: A hard one, which is the only hard case I allow in the bag.

3. Prescription medication: In its original packaging, with the prescription, so you can show both if anyone asks.

4. Menstrual cup: Only when I’ll have my period while traveling. It also removes a whole category of bulky supplies from the bag.

5. Earplugs: I don’t like wax earplugs and have been buying the colored Quies ones for years.

5. Toiletry bags

1. Clear bag for the liquids check: Make sure it is big enough and zips shut. Everything you want to bring in liquid form has to fit inside this one bag, so pack it before you pack anything else and treat whatever doesn’t fit as something you buy on arrival.

2. Main toiletry bag: This is where everything else goes. I use a simple square one with a small make-up bag stuffed inside, because that combination squashes flat and fits just about anywhere in a trolley or backpack. Other people rave about hanging toiletry bags, so I might try one. Just don’t get a hard case: it never fits closely around your things and always takes up more room than it needs to.

And that’s it. I hope this has given you an idea of how to pack toiletries for carry-on-only travel. Got a tip of your own? Share it in the comments.

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WonderfulWanderings Pro Tips

The 4 tips below come from packing this kit for years of carry-on-only trips and from re-checking the 2026 liquids rules on both sides of the Atlantic.

1. Pack to the bag, not to a total. Plenty of packing lists tell you that you get 1,000 ml of liquids, so ten 100 ml bottles. Ten bottles do not fit in a quart bag, and the bag is the rule: 3.4 oz per container, one quart-size resealable bag, one bag per passenger. Fill it first and treat whatever will not go in as something you buy on arrival.
2. Assume 100 ml on the way home even if you were allowed 2 litres on the way out. Since the European Commission approved certain C3 scanners in July 2025, airports including Dublin, Rome, Milan Linate, Heathrow, Gatwick, Edinburgh and Birmingham have allowed larger containers, and Frankfurt and Munich allow it only in the lanes with the new machines. The rollout is per airport and sometimes per lane, so the two ends of your trip may not agree.
3. Search for Lush Toothpaste Tabs, not Toothy Tabs. The product I use is the same one, sold under a new name in flavours such as Dirty, Sparkle and Refresher, so the old name that appears on every older packing list now returns nothing.
4. Take the hotel miniatures and skip the branded travel packs. Small hotel bottles of shower gel and body lotion are exactly the size a quart bag wants, and I use them for whole trips. The three-miniature sets sold as travel packs cost more than the full-size products, and they choose the sizes for you.

About the author. This guide is written and maintained by the Wonderful Wanderings editorial team. Wonderful Wanderings was founded in 2012 by Sofie Couwenbergh, and the packing habits in this post come from years of her own carry-on-only trips. The team covers travel gear for independent travellers, including the toiletry kit, bags and packing tools worth buying, and updates this page when airport liquid rules and products change.