Space Saving Toiletries (Minimizing Your Pamper Pouch)

Toiletries are the sneakiest category in any backpack; no single item is big, but a full-size shampoo, a can of shaving cream, a bottle of sunscreen and a bulky dopp kit add up to more space than all of my shirts combined.. and most of it can be bought in any corner store on the planet.

This post is the toiletry companion to Top 10 Ways to Minimize Your Pack; the goal is a kit that fits in one hand, doesn't leak, and gets through airport security without a second look.

Why do bars beat liquids for travel?

Bars beat liquids because they can't leak, they don't count toward the carry-on liquids limit, and they last longer per ounce than the bottled version. A bar of soap has never exploded inside a backpack on a flight; the same cannot be said for shampoo.

Nearly every liquid in your bathroom now has a solid version:

• Bar soap: the original, and still the easiest win; it's cheap, sold everywhere, and doubles as laundry soap (more on that below).
• Shampoo and conditioner bars: a small bar replaces a bottle, and one bar can last months. Give it a week or two if your hair doesn't love it at first; some people never adjust, in which case a small refillable bottle is the fallback.
• Toothpaste tablets: chew one, brush as usual; a small bag of tabs replaces a tube and can't burst in your bag. Some flavors are odd, so try a few before buying a big bag.
• Solid deodorant: a stick or a crystal; skip the spray cans (aerosol, bulky, and a hassle at security).
• Sunscreen sticks: handy for faces and ears; for full-body coverage, buy a bottle on arrival (see below).

Keep bars in a small tin, a soap sleeve or even a zip-lock bag with a paper towel, and let them dry before packing them, or you'll end up with soap soup.

One soap for body, hair and laundry

You do not need a separate soap for every surface of your body. A single bar (or a small bottle of multi-use liquid soap, the kind sold for camping) will wash your body, your hair and your clothes; if it's gentle enough for your skin, it's gentle enough for a t-shirt.

This matters more than it sounds if you're washing clothes daily like I do; I wash mine in the shower, so the soap that's already in my hand does the job, and there's no packet of travel detergent to remember or run out of. Check out Washing Clothes in the Shower for how that works.

Buy it when you land

Anything that's sold everywhere doesn't need to be packed. Toothpaste, sunscreen, razors, cotton swabs, lotion, bug spray, shaving cream, floss.. if people live where you're going, these are on a shelf within walking distance of wherever you sleep, usually for less than you'd pay at home.

The trick is to pack the first few days' worth and nothing more: a nearly-empty tube of toothpaste, a travel-size sunscreen, one razor, and restock as you go. You'll never carry a full-size anything, and when you leave a country, whatever's left goes in the hostel's free bin for the next person.

The exception is anything specific to you; prescription meds, a particular contact solution, a face product you can't live without. Pack enough of those and don't count on finding them.

The few liquids you keep

You'll probably end up with two or three liquids anyway; contact solution, a face wash, maybe a small bottle of that multi-use soap. Decant them into small refillable bottles (the squeezable silicone ones are best because they don't crack) and label them with a marker, because three identical clear bottles of white liquid are impossible to tell apart at 6am.

The carry-on liquids rule, in most countries: each container must be 100ml (3.4oz) or smaller, and all of them must fit in one clear, quart-size (roughly one liter) resealable bag. Toothpaste, gel deodorant and sunscreen all count as liquids. Some airports are relaxing this with newer scanners, but not consistently, so plan for the rule until it's gone everywhere; a few 50ml bottles and a handful of bars won't come close to the limit.

Safety razor or cartridges?

For long-term travel, cartridges win on convenience and a safety razor wins on cost and waste; pick based on how often you fly.

A safety razor is a one-time purchase and the blades cost pennies, but the blades aren't allowed in carry-on luggage in most places (the handle is fine), so you'd be buying blades on arrival every time you fly. Cartridge razors are allowed in carry-ons, refills are sold everywhere, and a single handle with two or three cartridges takes up almost no space. Cheap disposables are also fine, and easy to leave behind. A beard is the true minimalist option.

Skip the giant toiletry bag

The toiletry bag is often bigger than the toiletries. Full-size dopp kits with six compartments and a mirror are designed to hold a bathroom, and you're packing a fraction of one; a small hanging bag, a zippered pouch or a plain zip-lock will hold everything above with room to spare.

I pack a small hanging toiletry bag because hostel bathrooms rarely have counter space and a hook is always available, but it's about the size of a paperback, and even that is arguably more than you need.

A sample minimal kit

• Toothbrush (travel size, or one with a cap) and a small bag of toothpaste tabs, or a travel tube
• One bar of soap in a tin (body, hair and laundry)
• Solid deodorant
• Razor with two spare cartridges
• Nail clippers (which also stand in for scissors)
• Two or three small refillable bottles for the liquids you actually need
• A few basics that are hard to find at 2am: a couple of pain relievers, a few bandaids, any prescriptions
• A quart-size zip-lock for security, doubling as the toiletry bag

Everything else, sunscreen included, you buy when you land.

Final thoughts

Toiletries are the easiest category to shrink because the fix is so simple: go solid where you can, keep the two or three liquids in small bottles, and buy the rest when you arrive. There's a good chance you'll end up with a smaller kit than you use at home, and it'll fit in a sandwich bag.

For the rest of the pack, check out Space Saving Items and Essential One-Bag Travel Accessories, and if you're wondering what else to leave at home, 16 Things You Should NEVER Pack.

Read Next: Top 10 Ways to Minimize Your Pack