Atlanta ? Once it was duct tape. On Tuesday, the mundane household item given new prominence by national security issues was the zip-top baggie.

The clear bags became a hot commodity at U.S. airports Tuesday as new security rules kicked in allowing air passengers to carry small amounts of liquids and gels for the first time in more than six weeks. Such items must be sealed in a quart-sized or smaller bag, leaving many passengers scrambling to find something they might have used to freeze their leftovers the night before.

Ginni Dewbray and her husband, stuck in a security line at Chicago’s O’Hare International Airport, had to come up with a bag or lose a small bottle of Oil of Olay lotion. Edward Dewbray had to ask several travelers before he found one.

“It’s an inconvenience,” Ginni Dewbray said. “If they’re going to stand there and ask you to have plastic bags, they should give them out. They’re not that expensive.”

Confusion over size limits and other restrictions meant long lines at some airports as annoyed passengers threw out containers of shaving cream, hand lotion and other products too large to be allowed on board. Overall, however, air travelers were happy their drinks, makeup and other liquids and gels were again cleared for takeoff.

The new rules, announced Monday by the federal Transportation Security Administration, allow travel-sized toiletries to be carried aboard flights in a sealable clear plastic bag. Some items are permitted in any amount: saline solution, eye drops and prescription and nonprescription medicine, according to Transportation Security Administration spokesman Christopher White.

Drinks, liquids and gels purchased in airport stores inside security checkpoints can be carried into passenger cabins.