The Transportation Security Administration (TSA) has added yet another item to its laundry list of things passengers must be cautious about when packing their luggage.
While electric toothbrushes are technically allowed on board, the TSA just released “special instructions” for how people can safely pack them to keep their pearly whites clean while away from home.
If your electric toothbrush has a lithium battery installed — it should always be packed in your carry-on luggage, so flight crews can properly recognize and respond to a lithium battery fire, in the event it happens.
Any spare or uninstalled lithium batteries must also be placed in a carry-on bag, according to TSA.
If you prefer to pack your powered toothbrush in your checked luggage, just make sure it’s “…completely powered off and protected to prevent unintentional activation or damage,” the FAA warns, via USA Today.
And while you’re checking off your packing to-do list, keep in mind that cordless hair tools, like curling irons and flatirons, powered by gas cartridges or butane, are banned in checked bags.
While the TSA will snatch them out of your checked luggage — you don’t have to deal with bad hair days while away from home because you can bring these tools with you as long as they’re safely packed in your carry-on.
While these packing do’s and don’ts might have your head spinning, the good news is that as of July 7, you no longer have to kick off your shoes at TSA checkpoints, according to One Mile at a Time.
Up until this summer, only travelers cleared for TSA PreCheck have had the luxury of not having to put their bare or sock-wearing feet all over the gross airport floor.
Forcing non-PreCheck travelers to remove their shoes went into effect in the early 2000s after “Shoe Bomber” Richard Reid smuggled explosives onto a flight via his footwear back in 2001.
Supposedly, TSA might also roll back liquid restrictions on flights — but that hasn’t been confirmed yet.
Department of Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem has reportedly been pushing for TSA to be a little more lenient on its liquids, aerosols, and gels rule since they eased up on the shoes-off policy.
“The day I walked in the door, I started questioning everything TSA does,” Noem told NewsNation chief Washington correspondent Blake Burman at the inaugural Hill Nation Summit.
“I will tell you, I mean, the liquids [rule] I am questioning. So that may be the next big announcement is what size your liquids need to be. We’re looking at it.”
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