Spray Sunscreen in Checked Luggage

[msminniemouse]

Does anyone know if it is okay to bring spray suncreen in checked luggage?
I know that it is too big to be brought in carry on luggage. I thought I read that you can't bring any aerosols or flammable liquids on airplane.

 

[RMAMom]

I always do and will again in a couple of weeks. I usually have 3 or 4 bottles of it. I've never had a problem.

 

[bytheblood]

If it is an aerosol, you are not supposed to carry it on or check it.

http://www.tsa.gov/travelers/airtravel/prohibited/permitted-prohibited-items.shtm

We take Lysol in a small can with us each time we fly and have never had an issue.

 

[francie57]

We just got back and had no problem with spray suntan lotion in our checked luggage. We just made sure it was in a large, sealed ziploc so it wouldn't get on anything in case something happened to it.

 

[Jestocost]

If it is an aerosol, you are not supposed to carry it on or check it.

http://www.tsa.gov/travelers/airtravel/prohibited/permitted-prohibited-items.shtm

We take Lysol in a small can with us each time we fly and have never had an issue.

Wrong. In fact, the OP is in better shape than bytheblood. Aerosols are permitted in checked luggage for personal care items, including sunscreen (and hairspray, deodorant, etc.). Aerosols are not permitted for other uses, including household products like Lysol.

 

[disneymarie]

Our last trip we fly down and drove back with our son. On the way down there must have been a shift in our checked toiletry bag and a spray tip went sideways emptying out. I had it in a ziplock but it leaked onto my dh slacks and I had to wash them and few Tshirts that night. It is about the crushing weight of the luggage on top of each other, not the pressure. As told to me by ds when we got there. He worked for ComAir/Delta for years.

I had a spray sunscreen problem of a different kind. I had the 50 spf for dd when on a cruise to Bermuda in June. She got burnt really bad. We were at the beach for 2 hrs and reapplied midway. I had to buy the lotion for her the rest of the cruise. What a miserable next day. The spay Aloe was about as weak too. Bought a gel of that too to help her out with burning pain.
The spray I got for myself lasted about three days. Just can see spending the money on them anymore.

 

[pooch]

one can of spray sunscreen will last DD and I all week and she's ghostly pale!

 

[pooch]

lets all play nice!!

 

[aubriee]

I had a spray sunscreen problem of a different kind. I had the 50 spf for dd when on a cruise to Bermuda in June. She got burnt really bad. We were at the beach for 2 hrs and reapplied midway. I had to buy the lotion for her the rest of the cruise. What a miserable next day. The spay Aloe was about as weak too. Bought a gel of that too to help her out with burning pain.
The spray I got for myself lasted about three days. Just can see spending the money on them anymore.

Living in the south, I don't go outside without sunscreen. I love the Neutrogena with Helioplex spf 100 spray for my body, but use a Neutrogena face sunscreen lotion for my face. I usually use a little less than two cans of the spray for a nine day trip. I'm fair skinned but have never burned. I also haven't used less than a spf 75 for years but always try to get 100 spf.

To OP: I fly to WDW several times a year and always have cans of spray sunscreen in my checked bag. Just make sure to double bag it in zip locks.

 

[msminniemouse]

Thanks for replies. I'll be leaving this morning and will take the spray sunscreen double bagged with me on checked luggage.

 

[disneymarie]

Living in the south, I don't go outside without sunscreen. I love the Neutrogena with Helioplex spf 100 spray for my body, but use a Neutrogena face sunscreen lotion for my face. I usually use a little less than two cans of the spray for a nine day trip. I'm fair skinned but have never burned. I also haven't used less than a spf 75 for years but always try to get 100 spf.

To OP: I fly to WDW several times a year and always have cans of spray sunscreen in my checked bag. Just make sure to double bag it in zip locks.

Sorry to hijack about the SPF/spray issue, but it is a miserable vacation if dd burns. I am glad for input on protection and convienance.

She is almost 16 and I feel so bad when she burns. She would love a little color but sticks to the tint lotion to get that. We heard on Today show the above 50 is not much more affective was why the 50 spf. On the cruise going down we used it a few times a day, she was in the shade often, not laying out.

But the day we went the Horseshoe Bay; she put it on before we went, when she got there, and after being in the water. The one mistake I made was in not insisting on rubber her back and over the shoulders. She must have been turned away from the sun. She was gentle pink on her face and chest, but it was not painful.

If the Neutrogena 100 is more effective, maybe we do not need to apply so much. I bought Bull Frog 50 and one apply for the day at home with the pool worked out well. DD hates the lotion, loved the idea of a dry spray...not fearful to any sun.

 

[disneymarie]

double post

 

[Jestocost]

Just to clarify and provide the facts on the issue, here is an example of how one airline (American, link here) describes the allowed and not allowed items:

Household Items
Example
Bleach, spray starch, insecticides, drain cleaners and solvents as well as aerosols such as air fresheners, oven cleaners, bathroom cleaners etc.

Allowed For Travel?
No

Personal Care Items
Example
Aerosol deodorant/hair spray/insect repellent, perfume/cologne containing alcohol, nail polish, nail polish remover, large bottles of acetone such as liquid nails

Allowed For Travel?
Yes

And here is AA's note on "limited quantities" as it applies to personal care items:

Items in checked baggage are limited to a total of no more than 70 ounces per passenger. Contents of each container may not exceed 16 fluid ounces.

 

[NotUrsula]

But the day we went the Horseshoe Bay; she put it on before we went, when she got there, and after being in the water. The one mistake I made was in not insisting on rubber her back and over the shoulders. She must have been turned away from the sun. She was gentle pink on her face and chest, but it was not painful.

If the Neutrogena 100 is more effective, maybe we do not need to apply so much. I bought Bull Frog 50 and one apply for the day at home with the pool worked out well. DD hates the lotion, loved the idea of a dry spray...not fearful to any sun.

There is a HUGE difference in the intensity of the sun in Pennsylvania and in the Caribbean. In addition, being completely surrounded by water intensifies the UV reflection still more, and moving salt water dissolves sunscreen faster than chlorinated fresh water will. The last factor when at a beach or on a boat is WIND: if you are not in a sheltered area when you apply spray sunscreen, the wind can often disperse it before it properly hits your skin.

Generally speaking, when on a subtropical beach you need to use twice as much sunscreen twice as often as you would at a pool in a state above the Mason-Dixon line.

Federal guidelines suggest using 1 fl. oz of sunblock for full coverage for an adult in each application. Since the spray bottles normally hold 6 ounces, they should be good for around 4-6 applications each (there is some lost if application conditions are windy.) Since I have four people in my family, 3 hours at the beach uses up close to 2 full cans, plus we also use wax stick on our faces and ears.

For a week at the beach, my fair-skinned family of 3 adults and one young child normally goes through about 20 6-oz cans of spray. (And yes, we do pack it in checked luggage, normally distributing between 2 suitcases.) I know spray is expensive, but we use it because we hate applying lotion, and what we hate to do we tend to "forget" to do. In my family spray will get used properly, and lotion will not.

PS: I've never had unopened cans with intact factory seals leak during flight. Any partially-used cans that we bring back home get double-bagged with some paper towels inside the baggies to absorb leaks.

 

[nkereina]

Just a warning if you put in your checked bag... put it in a zip lock bag too! I've carried aerosoles in my checked bag 3 times and all 3 times they have leaked. I don't know if it's due to the pressure or what. None of them were brand new or unused, if that makes a difference.