Bargain Travel Toiletry/Small Item Containers

As we were beginning to plan our family vacation, I started checking out my travel-sized containers, stored in a box under the sink. This motley collection included sample-size empties, a tiny pill container, and a couple of "official" travel containers (the kind that are sold as such). As I mentioned regarding the clothing I packed in a backpack for travel, I was trying to keep my bag as light as possible, while making room for everything I needed.

One evening in January I went onto Amazon checking purchasable travel containers. There are so many fun sets available. However, most of these are simply bigger than I needed. What always surprises me is how little of something like concealer or tinted moisturizer I actually used on a trip.

On the far left of the photo below are a couple of tiny rigid containers that I already had. I only needed a tiny amount of under eye concealer, so I used an old sample container. I used a rigid pill box, about an inch and a half in diameter, for my tinted moisturizer. As you can see, I needed far less than I imagined. I came home with what looks like almost as much as I brought with me.

That's when I thought, "what about tiny plastic bags?" With a tiny plastic bag, the space taken up in luggage is only as big as the amount of product you are intending to bring. If I need a tablespoon of leave-in hair conditioner, the bag plus conditioner takes up barely more than that of the conditioner alone. Whereas, with rigid travel containers, if you only need a tablespoon of hair conditioner, the airspace in the container takes up room in your bag, too. 

I did see flexible squeeze pouch containers (think refillable toothpaste tube) on Amazon, which would be great in the sense of taking up only the space of the product and a tiny amount of extra space for the container. Those were sold in sets of about a dozen or dozen and a half, priced around 50 cents (plain or clear) to $1 each (for the pretty ones). Always trying to find a less expensive alternative, I passed on those travel pouches.

Back to the tiny ziplock plastic bags. I found those on Amazon, too. The set I bought came in three sizes, with 100  in each size. At 300 tiny bags in the set, I could pay less than 2 cents per zippered container. Plus, being just a plastic bag, they would naturally have a slimmer profile and take up less space than a pouch with a spout. So I chose to go the tiny plastic ziplock bag route.

Size-wise, the smallest bag was slightly smaller than a wrapped tea bag. The medium bag was about the size of a wrapped tea bag. And the largest bag was slightly larger than a wrapped tea bag.

This is how I used them.

I used the smallest bags for my supplements. Instead of carrying a weekly pill minder box, I put a day's worth of supplements into one small bag times 6. Have you ever seen those curated vitamin packs that contain a day's worth of supplements in one small pouch? That's essentially what I made for myself. I also used the smallest bag for each day's vegetable powders (times 6 days), essentially making my own vegetable powder sticks. Into each small bag I put a scoop of beet powder and a scoop of greens powder. Each morning while away I could dump a bag into a cup of diluted juice, stir well, and get two extra servings of vegetables into my day. This small size was also perfect for my emergency supplements, should I feel I was catching a cold. I only needed a few of each supplement, so the small bag worked well. 

I also used the smallest bag to hold 12 strands of dental floss, 2 for each day. Before the trip, I cut off the amount needed for each flossing, wound it around my finger and placed them all in the tiny bag. This little baggie took up a fraction of the space of my regular dental floss container. And finally, I used one small bag for jewelry. Instead of placing earrings on a counter or dresser at night when I went to bed, I put the pair into one small bag and kept that in my purse. I didn't want to take a chance on misplacing jewelry while traveling, and the tiny bag took up practically no space in my purse.

In the medium bags I scooped about a heaping tablespoon of leave-in conditioner, enough to get me through the week. To use, I would open the bag and squeeze a small amount out of the opening into my hand. It worked well, did not leak in flight, and was just the amount I needed. I also used this size bag for my facial sunscreen. I had enough to get me through the week, and again, the bag didn't leak. Finally, I used this size for my moisturizer that also doubles as my facial cleaner and eye cream. It's an all-in-one product for me. The medium size bag held not only enough for the trip, but I had a lot leftover. 

I used the largest bags for powders. I brought electrolyte powder and magnesium powder on the trip, adding a tiny scoop to each bag to measure into water each day.

My entire household used some of these tiny bags for their own toiletries and supplements/meds. And yet, we barely put a dent in the package. These will last for many trips, unless I find other uses for them. And, I spent about half what I would have spent on a small set of travel containers that would have been just enough for myself. 

As far as new travel containers go, these were definitely a bargain and exactly fit our needs.

I got to thinking, these would also work well for camping or backpacking. One could bring small amounts of condiments or sugar for coffee/tea or peanut butter powder in these tiny bags. They would take up very little space in camping gear, yet still provide the option to have a little each of many ingredients. I may be using a few of these when picnic season begins again.