Since many of the airlines nickel and dime passengers with countless baggage fees, carrying on your bags is the easiest way to save money. But what do you do when you want to bring your favorite shampoo with you? You could try dry shampoo, but if that doesn’t suit you, you have to choose wisely which liquids you want to bring with you due to the annoying TSA restrictions.
>> Buy Pitotubes travel set on Amazon
Enter Pitotubes, travel bottles that come recommended by flight attendants and jetsetting travelers alike. Instead of buying a bunch of small bottles of your shampoo, you can reuse these bottles for nearly every liquid. The bottles adapt to pressure changes, like those in airplanes, to prevent breakage and leakage. They’re made from recycled plastic and are durable.
Pitotubes sent me a Pitotubes Quart Sized Kit to test out on my trip to San Francisco. Six bottles come in two sizes, 30 and 15 milliliters, in a clear quart sized bag, which is easy to take through security. They include both squirt and spray tops as well as reusable labels, which say solution, shampoo, conditioner and lotion, as well as one to write your own label. On my trip, I decided to test out the bottles with my Dr. Bronner’s Magic Soap, contact solution and fabric softener.
I found that some liquids work better than others. Lotion, shampoo, conditioner and body wash work well with the pump lids, while perfume and wrinkle releaser are best with the spray tops. Once you start running low on your liquids, the hydraulic pump technology bottles push them towards the top to get as much out as possible.
A few liquids, however, aren’t suited for Pitotubes. The tops are too pressurized for contact solution, so a drip top would be a good addition to the range. I didn’t test out the bottles with toothpaste because I was concerned it would get messy. Other liquids that would work with Pitotubes are liquid concealer, non aerosol hairspray, stain removing spray, antiseptic ointment, hair gel and hand sanitizer. They don’t recommend using liquids with high acidity or grains, like certain facial cleansers, because they can clog and damage the pumps.
They start at around $4 per bottle and you can get the quart sized set for $39. While they aren’t cheap, they will be worth it once you use them twice. Overall I would recommend Pitotubes for carrying liquids while flying!
What do you use for liquids while traveling?
The Pitotubes look wonderful! Unfortunately it looks like Amazon won’t ship them outside the U.S.A. (I’m in Canada) and I can’t find any stores in my country that sell them. Any tips?
A website called Bottlewise sells them so they might know of a distributor in Canada!
Bar shampoo sold at Lush is another great way to save space in the 1quart ziploc bag.
Lush is a great idea. For similar reasons, I use Colgate tooth powder instead of toothpaste. Not only does it get you around the carryon restrictions, it’s a lot lighter than paste and works great. Every ounce counts!