Clear resealable toiletry bag with 100ml bottles
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Can you take nail polish and remover on a plane?
Carry-on: Conditions Checked: Conditions Same on domestic flights
Nail polish and remover are flammable liquids as well as ordinary liquids: 100ml or under in an international cabin bag, and airlines cap the total flammable toiletries you may check at around 2 litres per person.
Pure acetone remover is the stricter of the two. Keep bottles upright in a sealed bag; cabin pressure changes make them leak.
Nail polish is caught by two separate rules at once, which is why the answer is more complicated than for most toiletries. It is a liquid, so on an international departure it has to be 100ml or less and fit in the clear bag. It is also a flammable liquid, so a dangerous-goods cap applies on top - airlines limit the total flammable toiletries you may check to around 2 litres per person.
That second rule is the one people have never heard of, and it is the one that applies domestically. Within Australia the 100ml screening limit generally does not apply, but the flammable-goods limit still does.
Pure acetone remover is the stricter of the two products. Bottles also leak: cabin pressure changes push liquid past a loose cap, so keep them upright and inside a sealed bag whichever way they travel.
Flying within Australia? This rule does not change.
Nail polish is a flammable liquid, so the dangerous-goods limit applies domestically too. It is only the 100ml screening limit that does not.
Two rules explain most of this page. Lithium batteries fly in the cabin so the crew can reach them, and the 100ml liquid limit is an international rule. Your flight home is screened under the departure country's rules, which are sometimes stricter than Australia's.
Nail polish and remover: common questions
Can you take nail polish on a plane?
Yes. On an international departure it must be 100ml or less and fit inside your clear liquids bag. Larger bottles go in checked baggage, subject to the airline’s cap on total flammable toiletries.
Can you take nail polish remover on a plane?
Yes, under the same limits, but pure acetone remover is treated more strictly than polish. Keep it to 100ml or less in the cabin and expect it to be scrutinised more closely at screening.
How much nail polish can you put in checked baggage?
Airlines cap total flammable toiletries at around 2 litres per person, and nail polish and remover count towards that with your perfumes and aerosols. It is a generous limit for polish but easy to reach across a whole toiletry bag.
Can you take nail polish on a domestic flight in Australia?
Yes, and the 100ml screening limit generally does not apply domestically. The flammable-liquid limit still does, so the checked-baggage cap is unchanged on a domestic flight.
Why does nail polish leak on planes?
Cabin pressure drops during the climb and pushes liquid past a loose cap. Keep bottles upright inside a sealed bag - this is worth doing in checked baggage as much as in the cabin.
Flying soon? Screening is the easy part
What stops Australians at the airport is more often the passport, the visa or the phone than the bag. Say where you are going and we will show you the entry rules for an Australian passport, what an eSIM actually costs there, and what the insurance covers.
Gear that meets this rule
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Liquids & toiletries
Contact lens solution
Treated as an ordinary liquid at 100ml or under internationally.
Protein powder
Protein powder is an organic powder, so it is not caught by the 350ml cap that applies to inorganic powders on international flights.
Vitamins and supplements
No restriction on flying with them in either bag.
CBD oil and cannabis products
Cannabis products including CBD are prescription-only medicines in Australia and cannot simply be carried in or out.
Liquids, aerosols and gels
International flights: containers of 100ml or less, all fitting in one resealable clear bag of about 20cm x 20cm, one bag per passenger.
Water bottles
Take it through international screening empty and fill it airside.
What is actually worth booking.
New destination guides and side-by-side comparisons for Australian travellers - which eSIM, which travel card, which insurance is worth paying for, and what to sort before you go. Prices in Australian dollars, a few emails a year.
Packing something else? The full A to Z of what you can take on a plane covers 61 items, the domestic flight rules set out what changes when you are not leaving the country, and the pre-departure checklist puts the rest of the trip in order.
Last reviewed 2 September 2026. Screening, dangerous-goods and biosecurity rules change, and airlines can be stricter than the government baseline. For anything unusual, the linked source and your airline's dangerous-goods page are the final word.