Basin Bath Salts—not TSA friendly...

[momofariel]

Whatever you do, if you buy bath salts make sure you check them. My DIL bought some at Basin and put them in a bag with a Christmas ornament and they were flagged and tested. Turns out they tested positive for something... We were pulled aside they took our drivers license and boarding passes. searched our bags were emptied and everything in them was tested and retested. Finally after all that they said we could go but the salts had to stay. Lesson learned.

 

[Mickeynutty]

What an ordeal. Sorry you had to go through that!

 

[siren0119]

Also - don't refer to (or let your kids refer to) the bath bombs as such if you put them in your carry on. My 8 year old almost caused a huge ruckus when they asked what was in the tube and my kiddo blurted out "those are mommy's bath bombs"....I'm sure he was just excited and trying to be helpful, but man.....

 

[StarSeven7]

Also - don't refer to (or let your kids refer to) the bath bombs as such if you put them in your carry on. My 8 year old almost caused a huge ruckus when they asked what was in the tube and my kiddo blurted out "those are mommy's bath bombs"....I'm sure he was just excited and trying to be helpful, but man.....

Yes, do not EVER mention the "b" word in an airport! When I was in high school, a girl I went to school with, who was a really nice girl who was never in trouble, mentioned the "b" word while going through security and it became a HUGE ordeal. She got detained and I think she might have even had to go back for a court appearance. And this was even before 9-11! So lesson learned, do not ever say that word, no matter what the context is!

 

[_19disnA]

Some airports can be more strict then others or new/different rules might be imposed regarding carryons. Best to only carry what you need during the flight and put the rest in your checked bags.

 

[JoJoGirl]

Yup, good advice. Both my daughter and I packed Basin bath salts in our carry-ons last February, and TSA found and tested them. Luckily, they let us keep ours. However, it added considerable time to our trip through security.

 

[AngiTN]

Lots of bath products have residue in them that read explosive in the TSA scanning systems. Lotions and creams on your hands can trigger it too.
I leave all the above out of my carry on bag

 

[Lynne M]

Moving this to the Transportation board.

 

[RogueX]

As an FYI....for someone who needed to be screened by multiple TSA agents, cosmetics that spill, especially eyeshadow powder, can actually cause those screening devices to indicate a finding.

 

[MinnieMSue]

When we bought our stuff at Basin they told us that we should not put it in our carryons.

 

[Sarahslay]

Whatever you do, if you buy bath salts make sure you check them. My DIL bought some at Basin and put them in a bag with a Christmas ornament and they were flagged and tested. Turns out they tested positive for something... We were pulled aside they took our drivers license and boarding passes. searched our bags were emptied and everything in them was tested and retested. Finally after all that they said we could go but the salts had to stay. Lesson learned.

We flew with bath salts, a few bath bombs, some solid lotion, and bars of soap in a bag together (didn't check it) and weren't flagged for it. Hopefully you just got "lucky", it is a pain though not knowing what you can and can't go through security with anymore when coming home. I don't always have room in my checked bag (or just a little worried it's going to ruin everything in my bag with how they handle it, they could also still see it and search your stuff when it's checked and that's a "no thanks" on my end).

 

[AngiTN]

We flew with bath salts, a few bath bombs, some solid lotion, and bars of soap in a bag together (didn't check it) and weren't flagged for it. Hopefully you just got "lucky", it is a pain though not knowing what you can and can't go through security with anymore when coming home. I don't always have room in my checked bag (or just a little worried it's going to ruin everything in my bag with how they handle it, they could also still see it and search your stuff when it's checked and that's a "no thanks" on my end).

You are the one to get lucky. I do not suggest taking it in carry on in the future. Your odds are you will be stopped

 

[Sarahslay]

You are the one to get lucky. I do not suggest taking it in carry on in the future. Your odds are you will be stopped

I figured I've probably just been very lucky lol. Thankfully for me I normally don't buy that stuff, it was just DD that had to have it. We do frequently have our stuff searched for her medical stuff though, and there is nothing we can do about that, so I'm usually prepared to have to take more time in security.

 

[bakerworld]

Wow - they can be ordered online

 

[DuskKodesh]

Happened to me last trip too. Hubby bought some epsom salt to soak his feet in at the hotel then packed the remainder in MY bag. I got flagged and had a lovely chat with the TSA guy about Pandora which ended with "Well, how bad do you want to go home?" "Hey, if you want to keep me in Florida I'll oblige." He laughed, tossed the salts in the garbage and sent us on our way, then I took the next ten minutes lecturing my hubs on packing the salts in my bag. All in all it was a fifteen minute delay so not too bad, the agent said it happens all the time.

 

[Ciyra]

I've been told it's glycerin that sets off those sensors. I have a girlfriend who was on her honeymoon and some lotion on her hands set off sensors and led to a super invasive search. It was the worst TSA story I've ever heard.

 

[DLgal]

There are signs all over Basin stores warning you about this. I had this warning repeated to me several times when I purchased a salt scrub from Basin in Las Vegas. They said I would have to throw it away if TSA found it in my carry on.

 

[nacho113]

I read somewhere (I think on the TSA blog) that inorganic powders like salt, bath salts, some seasoning salts had a size limit of 12oz in carry-on

 

[sethschroeder]

Sorry but I would push them on this. I also had a TSA agent try to throw away Vaseline. That substance is a gel but excluded from any lists because it's viewed as over the counter medicine (I had it specifically for a cut).

Epsome salt and others are not considered controlled at all by TSA that I have ever come across.

TSA can be the biggest pain in the *** at times because some don't know the rules, regulations, or laws.

 

[Fall1]

Also - don't refer to (or let your kids refer to) the bath bombs as such if you put them in your carry on. My 8 year old almost caused a huge ruckus when they asked what was in the tube and my kiddo blurted out "those are mommy's bath bombs"....I'm sure he was just excited and trying to be helpful, but man.....

I did the SAME THING! A few years ago TSA asked me what my Basin bath bombs were and I said bath bombs and he said he could detain me just for saying it was a bomb!!